Jodi Arias Update: Judge Sets Murder Trial For Oct. 17

An Arizona judge has set a new trial date for Jodi Ann Arias, a California woman accused of brutally killing her ex-boyfriend.

The Huffington Post was the first to report last week that the would-be legal event of 2012, which was scheduled to start late next month, would likely be delayed due to a change in counsel.

Tuesday morning, Judge Sherry Stephens set Oct. 17 as the date jury selection will begin.

Originally slated to begin on Feb. 21, the trial has been delayed because Arias' lawyer, Victoria Washington, asked to withdraw from the case.

During today's case-management hearing, Stephens appointed Jennifer Willmott, a death penalty-qualified defense attorney, to represent Arias. Willmott will have roughly 10 months to get up to speed on the case.

Arias, a 31-year-old photographer from Yreka, Calif., is accused of killing her former lover, Travis Alexander.

A 30-year-old motivational speaker and insurance salesman from Mesa., Ariz., Alexander was found dead on June 9, 2008. Friends found Alexander's naked body inside his standup shower, and advanced decomposition suggested he had been dead for several days.

CASE PHOTOS: (article continues below)

Authorities ultimately determined Alexander had been shot in the right brow with a .25-caliber gun and stabbed 27 times before his throat was cut from ear to ear.

Arias initially denied any involvement in the slaying. When police used DNA and other physical evidence to place her at the crime scene she admitted she was present when Alexander was murdered, but said his death occurred during a home invasion. She has since changed her story again, allegedly arguing that she was a victim of domestic violence who killed him in self defense.

If convicted, Arias could face the death penalty.

WATCH:

Comments

[Zubber]

05:07 PM on 03/23/2012

can we see those naked photos of Jodi Arias? She is hot

[spytheweb]

06:46 PM on 05/09/2012

You don't want to see her in a room, nude with a knife and a gun. Her boyfriend thought she was hot too.

[Mara Valensuela]

04:00 PM on 03/04/2012

If I was physically abused and was "forced" to kill my boyfriend in self defense, that is the first thing I would tell the police, this woman, denied all involvement until her DNA proved otherwise, then she claimed she was present but "other" people killed him during a break in and NOW she is a poor abused woman who had to kill him while he was taking a shower....how many times does a person have to change their story before we realize something is not right?

[JackVandusen]

01:06 PM on 01/30/2012

I know nothing about it.
No wait. I was there, but we were attacked by home invaders.
No wait. I did it, but he deserved it.
No wait...
(What's next?)

[EdCorey1971]

09:57 AM on 01/16/2012

This comment is for those that would say how do we know it wasn't self defense...we weren't there.

According to some, men should never hit women...even in self defense because men are larger and stronger. Especially considering the false assumption that punches from women don't hurt. With that being said, how is shooting someone in the head while they are in the shower (naked) self defense? After which they stab them 27 times and cut their throat from ear to ear?

The first lawyer probably removed themselves because they know that this women is guilty as sin and didn't agree to use the DV defense. I guess some lawyers have a conscience after all.

[lizp33558]

07:37 AM on 03/03/2012

i agree

[EdCorey1971]

09:49 AM on 01/16/2012

At first she didn't remember...
Then it was an home invasion....
Then it was self-defense from DV....

This young lady was advised to say it was DV because similar cases where women have murdered their mates where no proof of DV have worked in the criminals favor. Either two things are going to happen. She gets off using the DV defense or her sentence is reduced significantly because it is the PC thing to do and everyone is afraid of the machine behind the very profitable DV industry.

[lalamaria]

11:15 AM on 01/09/2012

Why why why why the huge delay in this trial???!! I mean come on how long ago did Travis die?! The system is ridiculous letting murderers hang out in jail this long without trial

[brachm5]

07:42 PM on 01/04/2012

Don't judge a book by it's cover; they did that with Casey Anthony and a little girl lost her life.

[lizp33558]

07:41 AM on 03/03/2012

i think she is certainly gulity and a bad liar

[gwbsucs1]

06:49 PM on 01/04/2012

hmmmmmmmmm was he seein someone else or wanted to break it off with her ? she appears pretty , but looks can be decievin

[mdipary2004]

09:03 AM on 01/16/2012

This is one of the worst cases of domestic violence. She need to spend the rest of her life in jail.

[yurakraphed]

09:02 PM on 01/16/2012

or death

[Mario Parker]

06:00 PM on 01/04/2012

She'll get off.And we all know why...

[Tom Airhart]

11:14 AM on 01/10/2012

No we don't. Please share your thoughts.

[Mario Parker]

11:59 AM on 01/10/2012

Running a wee bit late,eh?

[mdipary2004]

11:27 AM on 01/24/2012

She is a woman thats why. This man is a victim of Domestic Violence but the media is turning it into something elses

[lizp33558]

07:42 AM on 03/03/2012

why?

[mdipary2004]

05:59 PM on 01/04/2012

Why is domestic violence committed by women against men downplayed and even buried under generic criminal labels, whereas violent acts committed by men against women are heavily emphasised as DV? What’s the point of deliberately deciding to not call domestic violence committed by women, “domestic violence”?

Well, one answer is to consider the effects of this suppression of the facts in story after story where women are seriously violent. The main effect is that when one performs an Internet search for news items concerning DV, virtually all results that appear concern only stories of men hurting or killing women. Story, after story, after story are listed for you detailing male violence against females.

In contrast, the stories of women hurting or killing men are classified – or rather misclassified - under other categories and so simply do not appear in a search for “Domestic Violence”. With this neat trick, the men killed and wounded as a result of female domestic violence are successfully “disappeared” from the search results of those who might be looking into the prevalence of DV. Impressive stuff.

Is this all a sophisticated attempt to cook search results?

[gwbsucs1]

06:52 PM on 01/04/2012

good point - i haven't done any research on the matter - but if in fact what your sayin is true , its a very valid point - my guess is one scenario is that there are 3 or 4 times the cases involvin DV , its the males who are the perps - but that still doesn't excuse the women ,

[mdipary2004]

08:07 PM on 01/04/2012

Domestic violence is equal among the genders. This is the first study done on domestic violence. The study found the violence is equal, in fact Suzanne Stienmetz PhD., recieved death threats from people saying she would get hurt if she released the study stateing the violence is equal. You can google the three quotes by Suzanne Stienmetz, stating such.

With support from the National Institute of Mental Health, Murray Straus Ph.D., and Richard Gelles Ph.D. conducted a nationally representative survey from the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire, of married and cohabiting couples regarding domestic violence. The results were first published in 1977 as was a book with co-author Suzanne Stienmetz Ph.D., in 1980. Straus & Gelles followed up the initial survey of more than two thousand couples, with a larger six-thousand-couple group in 1985. In minor violence (slap, spank, throw something, push, grab or shove) the incident rates were equal for men and women. In severe violence (kick, bite, hit with a fist, hit or try to hit with something, beat up the other, threaten with a knife or gun, use a knife or gun) more men were victimized than women.

[sammyscout]

07:55 PM on 01/04/2012

so true and i could elaborate but won;t bore you...F&F

[Tom Airhart]

11:15 AM on 01/10/2012

Bore us, please.

[Dalton Wayne Benjamin]

05:11 PM on 01/04/2012

hey sounds like she has got some issues. is she single now? sounds like a fun woman!

[lizp33558]

07:44 AM on 03/03/2012

sure if you live through it

[Calilover Calilover]

03:46 PM on 01/04/2012

will this another female "Defended" by the misandrists?

[mdipary2004]

03:28 PM on 01/04/2012

This conspiracy of omission is too common, too consistent and too concerted a pattern of behaviour from the news media to be considered anything other than deliberate editorial policy.

The news stories above are merely a sample of an easily verifiable trend in news reporting. It amounts to a closet consensus to deny the evidence in front of their eyes and simply pretend that serious DV is not committed by women. To the extent that even with clear and obvious occurrences, they choose to determinedly ignore the elephant in the room and call it something else.

But why? Why is domestic violence committed by women against men downplayed and even buried under generic criminal labels, whereas violent acts committed by men against women are heavily emphasised as DV? What’s the point of deliberately deciding to not call domestic violence committed by women, “domestic violence”?

Is it to hide accurate stats on male victims of domestic violence? I would have to say YES

[vampyreincubus]

05:33 PM on 01/04/2012

If the case was so solid and there is so much evidence then why wait so long to take it to trial? You are however 100 percent correct in the fact that far too often the media is used as a tool to manipulate the way the people think , whether it is over certain topics or just certain situations I really can not say. I used to be with an abusive woman and being a guy I can't and won't hit a girl. That is besides the point though , just wanted it out there that this does happen and way too commonly.

[AwesomeInfo]

06:05 PM on 01/04/2012

Because it is a death penalty case and she lost her council. Although your comment about media manipulation is accurate, it doesn't affect the start time of a case. She would not have a valid defense if it were to start tomorrow. If the facts that have been released are true (and we have no reason to doubt them as they have been reported by many different media outlets), then it is merely procedural. I cannot imagine shooting someone in the head, stabbing them 27 times, cutting their throat and then taking pictures of it.

[mdipary2004]

03:50 PM on 01/09/2012

She fired her lawyer, now the courts need to wait untill het new layer can read all the information.

[Susan Shaffer]

03:22 PM on 01/04/2012

Did I get this right? she shot him in face in the bedroom and then he ended up naked in the shower with all the stab wounds and the slit throat.
Something is wrong.
How did she get him into the shower?

[AwesomeInfo]

06:17 PM on 01/04/2012

No, I don't think you got that right. I wonder how she would feel if someone shot her in the head, stabbed her 27 times, slit her throat and then took pictures of her. Something IS definitely wrong. The sad thing is that if she had just killed him with the gun, didn't stab him, didn't slit his throat and didn't take the pictures, she'd probably get off with a stern warning in our society, even with all the evidence.

[mdipary2004]

02:11 PM on 01/29/2012

You got it wrong.

[Kev Bat]

03:16 PM on 01/04/2012

An angelic look to hide her devil mind . Hope she likes prison food and lesbian sex .