Jodi Arias Trial: Jurors Grill Her About On-and-Off Memory
By Howard Breuer 03/07/2013 at 05:30 PM EST Jodi Arias Charlie Leight/The Arizona Republic/AP Jurors this week pelted Jodi Arias with more than 200 questions indicating they’re skeptical of her story she killed her lover in self-defense but can’t remember much of it because it was so traumatic.The grilling Wednesday and Thursday in the Phoenix courtroom is rarely seen in criminal trials; jurors usually sit quietly and are repeatedly admonished not to come to any conclusions or discuss the case.But Arizona is one of three states that allow criminal juries to ask questions – the others are Colorado and Indiana. Attorneys review the questions, which are asked by the judge.For Arias, facing the death penalty if convicted of murdering Travis Alexander, the questions offered a potentially sobering clue to whether her memory-lapse defense is resonating with jurors. “How is it that you remember so many of your sexual encounters, including your ex-boyfriends,” the jury asked, “but you do not remember stabbing Travis (Alexander) and dragging his body?”The jury has heard Arias testify for a month about myriad experiences and sexual encounters with Alexander and other men.Arias responded: “I think, actually, that I have a very good memory, but when I’m under a stressful situation, my mind gets like a computer that freezes.”The jurors mostly seem interested in Arias’s actions the day of the slaying, June 4, 2008, and her behavior afterwards.”Why didn’t you just run out the door” instead of killing Alexander, the jury asked. Read More
