Jodi Arias Trial: Death Penalty Will be Pursued by Prosecution

The death penalty is still a possibility for Jodi Arias as prosecutors for the state of Arizona have announced that they still plan on retrying Arias after the first sentencing trial ended in a mistrial, according to the Associated Press.

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said that he believes that there won't be any trouble finding impartial jurors in order to retry the penalty phase of the trial despite the mass amounts of media coverage the trial has been given, reports KTAR.

The conviction of Jodi Arias is not in danger of being overturned; only the penalty phase of the trial is getting a do-over. Arias will either end up on death row or spend the rest of her life in prison.

According to KTAR, Montgomery had been meeting with the family of victim Travis Alexander. Having to go through the penalty phase of the trial a second time could be overly stressing for the Alexander family and Montgomery wants to avoid putting them through unnecessary anguish.

"It's a Constitutional right that victims have in Arizona to confer with the prosecutor and this office always endeavors to protect the rights of victims of crime," Montgomery said.

Arias was found mentally competent to face the death penalty prior to the first trial and Montgomery said that nothing has happened to make him believe otherwise so his office is preparing for the retrial, according to KTAR.

The foreman of the jury that convicted Arias but was unable to decide on a punishment, Bill Zervakos, has said in an interview that he was one of the four votes against the death penalty. Zervakos says that he voted the way he did in part because of Arias' young age, her troubled upbringing and the lack of a previous criminal record, according to HLN.

"You don't put people to death for being stupid," Zervakos said. "I don't think Jodi Arias is a menace to society. I think something happened and she's got to pay for it and she will pay for it."

In the interview Zervakos also revealed that he was unhappy the jury was unable to come up with a verdict.

"We all felt like we failed," Zervakos said. "When we found out it was a mistrial. We didn't finish the job we were tasked to do."

The new penalty phase trial is scheduled to begin on July 18. Judge Sherry Stephens has also scheduled a status hearing for June 20 to get an update from the attorneys on their preparations for the retrial, according to HLN.