[3] Alexander and Arias dated intermittently for a year and a half, often in a long-distance relationship, taking turns traveling between their respective Arizona and California homes.

[19][20] Medical examiner Kevin Horn would later testify that Alexander's jugular vein, common carotid artery, and trachea had been slashed and that he had defensive wounds on his hands.

The following day, Arias met Ryan Burns in the Salt Lake City suburb of West Jordan and attended business meetings for the conference.

[44] On December 20, Arias's attorneys argued that the prosecution was "systematically excluding" women and black people; prosecutor Juan Martinez said that race and sex were irrelevant to his decisions to strike certain jurors.

[45] In opening arguments on January 2, 2013, the prosecution portrayed Arias as a jealous person who attacked Alexander, a "good man", after he attempted to end their relationship.

He said that Arias had likely been suffering from acute stress at the time of the murder, sending her body into a "fight or flight" mode to defend herself, which caused her brain to stop retaining memory.

In rebuttal, prosecution witness Janeen DeMarte, a clinical psychologist, testified that Arias was not a victim of abuse and did not have PTSD, diagnosing her, instead, with borderline-personality disorder.

[69][70][16] In response to DeMarte's testimony, the defense asked for and received permission to call a rebuttal witness, psychologist Robert Geffner,[71] who said that all tests taken by Arias since her arrest pointed toward an anxiety disorder stemming from trauma.

[74] The prosecution's final rebuttal witness, forensic neuropsychologist Jill Hayes, disputed Geffner's testimony that the MMPI test was not geared toward diagnosing borderline personality disorder.

[85] Following the conviction, the prosecution was required to convince the jury that the murder was "cruel, heinous, or depraved" for them to determine that Arias was eligible for the death penalty.

Arias's attorneys, who had repeatedly asked to step down from the case, provided only brief opening statements and closing arguments in which they said that the adrenaline rushing through Alexander's body may have prevented him from feeling much pain during his death.

Prosecutor Martinez showed photos of the corpse and crime scene to the jury, then paused for two minutes of silence to illustrate how long he claimed that it took for Alexander to die.

[89] The penalty phase began on May 16, 2013, when prosecutors called Alexander's family members to offer victim impact statements in an effort to convince the jury that Arias's crime merited a death sentence.

Arias acknowledged that her plea for life was a reversal of remarks that she made to a television reporter shortly after her conviction in which she had said that she preferred the death penalty.

At one point, Arias held up a white T-shirt with the word "Survivor" written across it, telling the jurors that she would sell the clothing and donate all proceeds to victims of domestic abuse.

"[94] On May 30, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said he was confident that an impartial jury could be seated, but that it was possible that lawyers and the victim's family could agree to scrap the trial in favor of a life sentence with no parole.

[95] The defense responded, "If the diagnosis made by the State's psychologist is correct, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office is seeking to impose the death penalty upon a mentally ill woman who has no prior criminal history.

[98][99] Arias's lawyers argued in January that Esteban Flores, the lead Mesa police detective on the case, perjured himself during a 2009 pretrial hearing aimed at determining whether the death penalty should be considered an option for jurors.

Nurmi had asked the high court to throw out the aggravating factor of cruelty because the judge had allowed it to go forward based on a different theory of how the murder occurred.

Based on that theory, Stephens ruled there was probable cause to find the crime had been committed in an especially cruel manner, an aggravating factor under state law.

Prosecution witness Amanda Webb, called in the first trial to rebut Arias's testimony that she returned a gas can to Walmart on May 8, 2007, admitted she did not know if all records were transferred after the store relocated.

Though Judge Stephens' decision had been overruled by the Arizona Court of Appeals, "the mystery witness who testified ... at the start of the defense case" was not revealed to the public.

[123] On September 24, 2008, Inside Edition interviewed Arias at the Maricopa County Jail where she stated, "No jury is going to convict me...because I am innocent and you can mark my words on that.

"[126] They added that the trial garnered "daily coverage from cable news networks and spawned a virtual cottage industry for talk shows" and at the courthouse, "the entire case devolved into a circus-like spectacle attracting dozens of enthusiasts each day to the courthouse as they lined up for a chance to score just a few open public seats in the gallery;" "For its fans, the Arias trial became a live daytime soap opera.

"[126] The Toronto Star stated, "With its mix of jealousy, religion, murder, and sex, the Jodi Arias case shows what happens when the justice system becomes entertainment.

"[128] After the trial, jury foreman William Zervakos told ABC's Good Morning America that Arias's long testimony had hampered her defense: "I think eighteen days hurt her.

On May 21, HLN ranked No.1 among ad-supported cable networks from 1:56p to 2:15p (ET) as Arias took the stand to plead for her life in front of the jury that found her guilty of Alexander's murder.

[131] On April 11, USA Today reported that during the testimony of defense witness Alyce LaViolette, public outrage was extreme concerning her assertions that Arias was a victim of domestic violence.

Some person had sent him a threatening message complete with his email address, full name, and phone number (which at the very least means that this guy should retake Hate Mail 101).

Prosecutor Juan Martinez was played by Ugly Betty actor Tony Plana and David Zayas, of Dexter, portrays detective Esteban Flores.