The Jodi Arias defense team has filed for a mistrial. Here are the highlights in the defense motion.
In addition to referencing “the circus like atmosphere inside the courtroom” and the likeness to the Salem Witch Trials… the Motion cites specific acts of prosecutorial misconduct, including:
* Counsel for the State yelling at witnesses, attacking witnesses on a personal level and throwing evidence.
* The State releasing evidence to the media.
* Evidence tampering.
* Martinez showboating on the courthouse steps.
* The berating of defense witnesses via e-mail, telephone and in various internet forums.
The Motion also includes these direct statements:
…This State of affairs has placed counsel for Ms. Arias in a position that they cannot fulfill the duties they owe Ms. Arias, pursuant Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 6.8.
…In further efforts to prove his case in the court of public opinion rather than a court of law on April 4, 2013, the State unapologetically admitted that it had released a plethora of damming evidence that would not otherwise come into trial to the media.
…Counsel for Ms. Arias cannot meet the dictates of these guidelines when defense experts are being harassed inside the courtroom by the prosecutor and outside the courtroom by those who chose to mimic his behavior in other public forums.
…Based on the facts and law cited above it is beyond legitimate dispute that the conduct of the Prosecutor has placed counsel for Ms. Arias in a position where she cannot present a complete defense and where she cannot receive effective assistance of counsel during the trial and any potential sentencing phases. Thus, the trial at issue does not comport with the dictates of the 5th, 6th and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution and Art. 2, §§ 4, 15, 23, and 24 of the Arizona Constitution meaning that at this point in time that the only constitutional course is to declare a mistrial.
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