Jodi Arias is expected to take the stand and address the jury as her sentencing trial continues today. Yesterday Arias' attorneys attempted to withdraw from the case and declare a mistrial, both motions were promptly rejected by the judge. Arias was convicted of murdering Travis Alexander on May 8.

Arias' testimony is widely anticipated due to comments she had made shortly after being convicted. Arias told reporters that she was hoping for the death penalty, it remains to be seen if she will request the same sentencing from the jury.

Defense attorneys were expected to present witnesses on behalf of Arias yesterday, but told the judge they would not do so after one witness refused to testify after receiving death threats, according to Fox News. Defense attorney Kirk Nurmi referenced a defense expert who had also received death threats earlier in the case while commenting on the case.

"This cannot be a modern version of witch trials," Nurmi said.

Nurmi and fellow defense attorney Jennifer Wilmott asked Judge Sherry Stephens to withdraw from the case after Stephens turned down their request for a mistrial; their request to withdraw was also struck down by Stephens.

If the jury decides to send Arias to death row she will become one of the very few women to receive the death penalty. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, less than 2 percent of death row inmates are female despite accounting for 12 percent of murder arrests.

"Juries are a little more reluctant to mete out the death penalty to a woman than a man," Andy Silverman, a law professor at the University of Arizona, said. "We don't look at women as being as violent...We don't think of death row as a place for them."

Only one woman has ever been executed in the state of Arizona, according to NBC News. Eva Dugan was hanged for killing a wealthy chicken farmer in 1930.

The trial that has been going on for five years will most likely drag on for decades if Arias is given the death penalty. Dale Baich, an assistant federal public defender who works on death row appeals, expects the case to go on for at least 20 years, according to NBC News.

The trial is expected to resume at 12:30 p.m. EDT, a live stream can be seen here.