Jodi Arias’ parents break silence with online video, ask for donations

« So it’s got to be very, very difficult from their perspective to know that this is their little girl, and that their little girl did this to Travis Alexander, » Lindstrom said.

Lindstrom added that having a bigger budget for one’s legal representation doesn’t necessarily mean a better attorney will be hired.

« The capital attorneys that deal with these capital cases all the time might have more knowledge and be extremely more qualified to represent somebody than a private attorney, » she said. « People just automatically look down their nose because someone is a government attorney or a contract attorney. »

Arias’ lead defense attorney at the moment is Kirk Nurmi, whom Lindstrom says is a « death penalty-certified attorney. » She also said Nurmi is also a qualified and competent lawyer, but that it will be a hard sell to try to convince a jury to overturn Arias’ death sentence.

The court-appointed defense team is currently paid for by Arizona taxpayers, but Lindstrom said the video featuring Arias’ parents shows that the family seems to think it will find better representation if they raise enough money to hire a private attorney.

The jury-selection process concluded Oct. 21. Nurmi said last week that he believes he will need until late-January 2015 to finish making his case in the retrial, as opposed to the Dec. 18 target date set by Judge Sherry Stephens.

Stephens has tried to keep the media out of the room during a secret witness’ testimony, but an an Arizona Court of Appeals order said the courtroom couldn’t be closed to news outlets and the public.

The jury isn’t scheduled to hear another witness until Wednesday.

Late Monday, Arias’ attorneys filed a motion to dismiss all charges against her, alleging that a computer forensic expert hired by the defense discovered that thousands of files were deleted from Alexander’s computer while it was in police custody.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Laisser un commentaire