Jodi Arias to Answer 100 Questions from Jurors - East Idaho News
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Jodi Arias to Answer 100 Questions from Jurors

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011013 JodiArias?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1362587141428ABC News(PHOENIX) — Jurors who have sat through nearly 30 days of testimony in the Jodi Arias murder trial will get their chance on Wednesday to ask Arias 100 questions of their own about her relationship with ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander.

Arizona is one of three states that allow jurors to ask questions of witnesses following direct questioning and cross-examination.  The questions could offer a glimpse into the thinking of the jury as the case winds toward its conclusion and jurors are forced to weigh the evidence in what could be a death penalty case.

Arias, 32, who has been on the stand for 15 days describing her relationship with Alexander and the incident in which she killed him, will face their questions Wednesday afternoon.

She is accused of murder for the bloody attack in which she stabbed, slashed, and shot Alexander, 27, in his Mesa, Ariz., home in 2008.  The pair had dated for a year and then continued to sleep together for another year until Alexander’s death.

During her testimony, Arias has claimed that she was forced to kill Alexander in self-defense after he flew into a violent rage during an argument.  She has portrayed Alexander as abusive and sexually deviant during her days on the stand.

Arias could face the death penalty if convicted of the most serious count.

The jury is currently made up of 18 people, four of whom are alternates, in case one of the official 12 jurors falls ill or has to be excused from the jury ahead of deliberations.

The jury is made up of seven women, all in their thirties and forties, and 11 men, nine of whom are over the age of 40.

The jurors have been outspoken in asking questions of previous witnesses, submitting them on written cards that are then read aloud by Judge Sherry Stephens.

Arias and her attorneys will begin looking over the submitted questions at 11 a.m. EST on Wednesday, followed by prosecutor Juan Martinez at noon.  The attorneys can object to certain questions before the trial begins and Arias is put on the stand to answer them.

She is expected to take the stand around 3 p.m. to begin addressing the questions, and both her attorney and the prosecutor will be allowed to ask follow-up questions once the juror questions are complete.

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