Convicted U.S. killer Jodi Arias wants to stop representing herself

By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - Convicted murderer Jodi Arias no longer wants to represent herself at a sentencing-phase retrial in Arizona that will decide whether she is put to death for the 2008 killing of her ex-boyfriend, court documents showed on Wednesday. Arias submitted the motion after five weeks of acting as her own attorney during the closely watched proceedings before Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix. In a short filing, the 34-year-old former waitress from California gave no reason for her change of heart, but said that she wanted the change to take effect immediately. After a lurid five-month trial that drew tens of thousands of viewers to its live-streamed online broadcasts, Arias was convicted last year of killing her former boyfriend, Travis Alexander. Alexander's body was found slumped in a shower at his Phoenix-area home. He had been stabbed multiple times, his throat was slashed, and he was shot in the head. Arias claimed during the trial that she had acted in self-defense. The latest twist in the case comes as jury selection in the long-delayed penalty phase is scheduled to begin on Sept. 29. Arias had been acting as her own counsel since Aug. 4 after Judge Sherry Stephens granted her request to represent herself, while cautioning that it would not be in her best interest to take over the case. Stephens still must formally grant Arias' latest request. A county attorney's spokesman declined to comment on the new filing, and Arias' court-appointed advisory attorneys did not return requests for comment. Jurors found Arias eligible for the death penalty, but could not reach a unanimous verdict on whether she should be executed. A new jury is due to take up the issue again, and if it is also deadlocked then a judge will sentence Arias to spend either her natural life in prison, or life with the possibility of parole after 25 years. (Reporting by David Schwartz; Editing by Daniel Wallis)