Arias trial now turns to whether she lives or dies

Arias trial now turns to whether she lives or dies

PHOENIX (AP) -- The jury has rendered its verdict — Jodi Arias is guilty of first-degree murder — but the trial is far from finished.

The same jury now returns to the courtroom today to decide whether she deserves to die for killing her one-time boyfriend on June 4, 2008, at his suburban Phoenix home.

Despite her wish that she get death, the decision is only up to a jury at this point. Arias could choose not to testify at the penalty phase and not appeal her conviction if she were to get death, but such scenarios are rare and still take years to play out.

The sheer brutality of the attack and previous testimony from the Maricopa County Medical Examiner that Travis Alexander did not die a quick death will be at the heart of the prosecution’s argument that Jodi should receive the ultimate punishment for her crime.