Errant Arias Juror Dismissed 3 Months Into Murder Trial

I can no longer resist the urge to write about this Casey-Anthony look alike murder trial in the case against Jodi Arias. Earlier this week, Juror #5 was dismissed and escorted out of the courthouse in tears. This, after the defense made a motion to dismiss the miscreant juror for alleged misconduct and a motion for mistrial. The former was granted and the latter denied.

There were a total of 18 jurors hearing the trial, including alternates. Ultimately, a panel of 12 will make the decision. Arias could face the death penalty if convicted. She is accused of killing her ex-boyfriend back in 2008 and claims she did so in self-defense.

Why Was Juror #5 Dismissed?

Juror #5 has been described as being a particularly attentive juror who took copious notes throughout the trial. So what did this errant Arias juror do? She made statements that showed bias, or her inability to be impartial, in the presence of other jurors. The records are sealed, so we are left to fill in the blanks as to what was actually said. (At least until the gag order is lifted and Juror #5 releases her “exclusive” interview with every news station that will take her.) Anyway, Judges are not quick to dismiss jurors, especially those who have already spent three months serving on a long cause trial. In other words, Juror #5’s statements must have been pretty egregious to have led to such a ruling.

Prosecutor’s Publicity Parade

What troubles me is the manner in which this misconduct was revealed to the defense. Counsel for Arias was questioning the Prosecutor, Mr. Juan Martinez, about his signing autographs and posing for pictures outside the courthouse. It was during that publicity melee that prosecutor Martinez overheard Juror #5 make the statements indicating her bias, he told defense counsel. The defense also made a motion to dismiss based on prosecutorial misconduct. The motion was denied but as a result, jurors were called into court one by one to be questioned about what they had seen of Martinez’s tryst with the press.

Not only do her actions form the basis for her own dismissal, but what Juror #5 pulled will also be scrumptious grounds for an appeal on the grounds that other jurors, who were present at the time of the statements, were likewise biased and unable to render an impartial verdict. That, coupled with the prosecutor’s participation in the whole charade, would certainly give me pause before accepting the validity of this jury’s verdict.

A breakdown of the evidence in the Jodi Arias trial coming soon!