Transcripts of convicted murderer Jody Arias’ closed-door testimony during her sentencing retrial have been released.
Arias was convicted of murdering her boyfriend in 2013, but a jury was unable to decide whether she should be sentenced to death or life in prison. A new jury was impaneled in September to decide Arias’ fate, but controversy arose after the judge closed the courtroom to the press and the public for the testimony of an unidentified witness, reports The Arizona Republic.
That witness was later identified as Arias herself.
The courtroom closure came after the defense argued that “skittish defense witnesses” should be allowed to testify in secret. Arias testified for two days in secret before the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled that the media should have access to the courtroom and to transcripts of Arias’ testimony.
In total, the transcripts run well over 200 pages, but they start out with a bang: After stating her name, Arias testifies that she killed Travis Alexander, her boyfriend, in 2008, but didn’t admit to the killing until two years later because what she did “was so horrific that I couldn’t have – I could never have imagined myself doing that to another human being.”
Arias’ sentencing retrial continues this week.
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