Arizona jury hears arguments in Arias death penalty trial

By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - Jodi Arias, convicted in a sensational Arizona murder trial last year of killing her ex-boyfriend, returned to court on Tuesday for the re-start of penalty proceedings, with her lawyer describing his client as troubled and the prosecutor calling her heartless. After months of delays in the case, opening statements were presented to the jurors selected to decide whether Arias, found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2008 slaying of Travis Alexander, should receive the death penalty or life in prison. The 34-year-old ex-waitress was present as the 12 jurors and six alternates were sworn in by a Maricopa County Superior Court judge in Phoenix. The original trial jurors decided swiftly after finding Arias guilty that she was eligible for the death penalty, but they deadlocked on what her punishment should be, forcing Judge Sherry Stephens to declare a mistrial for the penalty phase. Alexander, 30, was found slumped in the shower of his Mesa, Arizona, home on June 4, 2008, shot in the face, stabbed 27 times and his throat slashed. During the trial, Arias testified for 18 days, claiming she acted in self-defense, while prosecutors said she murdered Alexander in a jealous rage. Prosecutor Juan Martinez began his statement to jurors on Tuesday by showing a gruesome photo of the slain Alexander's face. "Thirty-year-old Travis had more tomorrows than yesterdays," Martinez said. "She loved him so much she slaughtered him.” Defense attorney Kirk Nurmi countered that Arias was abused as a child and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder. "She will tell you how mortified she was that she killed the man that she loved," Nurmi told the jurors. Nurmi did not say whether Arias would take the stand or whether the jurors would be shown a video replay of her earlier appearance on the witness stand. The original five-month trial featured lurid testimony and grim crime-scene photographs, drawing many Internet viewers who watched live-streamed broadcasts of the proceedings. The penalty phase retrial, however, will not be broadcast live. It took roughly three weeks to seat the new jury, from a pool of about 400 people. If the jury deadlocks, the death penalty will be off the table, and Judge Stephens will decide if Arias gets life in prison or life without the possibility of parole for 25 years. (Reporting by David Schwartz in Phoenix; Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Steve Gorman and Mohammad Zargham)