Jodi Arias Trial Verdict Reached: Guilty or Not Guilty? Verdict to Be Read at 4.30PM ET
A Jodi Arias verdict has been reached on Wednesday afternoon in the murder trial case. The verdict will be read out at 4.30 p.m. ET, according to authorities.
The jury in the case have been deliberating all week and have been together for a relatively long period to come to their verdict, and it will be read in open court by the judge in less than two hours time.
Arias faces the death penalty if she is convicted of the first degree murder of ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander. However, her defense lawyers will be hoping that the jurors believe her account of what happened and that she killed Alexander in self-defense.
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If Arias is convicted of manslaughter then she could be sentenced from seven to 21 years in prison, instead of the death penalty for first degree murder. If she is given a prison sentence then she will also get credit for the 4.5 years she has already spent in jail waiting for her trial to take place.
Alexander was found dead in his Mesa house, in the bathroom, with 27 stab wounds around his body, as well as a slit throat and a gunshot wound to the head.
Prosecutors have said that Arias planned the brutal killing of her boyfriend, and was fully aware of what she was doing. However, Arias has claimed the killing was committed in self defense, and the defense team has tried to portray her as the victim.
They have pointed to Travis Alexander as a type of bully and hypocrite, who had long imposed his own will on Arias and forced her into the killing by making her fear for her own life.
The prosecution has highlighted that Arias has changed her story multiple times. She initially told authorities that she had nothing to do with the killing and was not even with him at the time. However, she later changed that story to blame the death on masked intruders. Finally her defense team admitted that she had killed Alexander but put forward the self defense explanation.
The trial verdict can be watched online through free live stream via the video player below:
