Jurors met for a third day of deliberations as they try to decide if convicted murder Jodi Arias should be executed or spend life in prison. The longer the jury deliberates the greater the possibility that they will be hopelessly deadlocked and be dismissed. If that were to occur a second jury could be called and the penalty phase of the trial would resume anew, according to ABC News.
The jury told Judge Sherry Stephens that they were deadlocked on Wednesday afternoon. Stephens gave the jury detailed instructions on how to proceed and sent them back into deliberations saying that she did not want to rush a decision, according to the Arizona Republic.
Jerry Cobb, spokesman for the prosecutor's office, told ABC News that if the jury ends up being deadlocked and declared a hung jury the prosecution will have a decision to make. They will have the option to call a second jury and retry the penalty phase of the trial but will have to decide if it is worth all of the time and resources it will cost to find a new jury and schedule new court dates. If they opt not to do so Arias will be sentenced to life in prison.
"If state decides to retry with a new jury, they get a new chance, but one more chance only to convince the jury to impose death sentence," Cobb told ABC News.
The conviction of Arias is final and will not be effected by the jury being unable to come to a decision. Cobb explained the process to ABC News.
"The facts and evidence presented in the guilt phase would be brought out and presented to the jury, but the jury would be told that the defendant was found guilty and here is the evidence," Cobb said. "It would be a shorter version of the original trial."
If the jury makes a decision today, or if they announce that they are deadlocked again, the live stream of the court room can be seen here.
