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The 12 final jurors in the Jodi Arias trial began deliberating Monday morning after hearing jury instructions Friday, reports The Huffington Post.
Arias, 32, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the killing of her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander. If convicted, she could face the death penalty.
Here's a look at the charges jurors are considering, and the jury instructions that will be key to Arias' fate:
In order to convict her of premeditated murder, a jury must unanimously find that Arias:
However, if jurors determine that they cannot find that Arias acted with premeditation, they may instead find her guilty of first-degree felony murder.
A jury may find Arias guilty of first-degree felony murder if:
So in summary, jurors can find Arias guilty of first-degree murder by either a unanimous vote that she committed felony murder, a unanimous vote that she committed premeditated murder, or some mix of the two (e.g., six vote for felony murder and six vote for premeditated murder).
If the jury cannot find premeditation or felony murder, then they may choose to find that although Arias had the intent to kill Alexander, she was adequately provoked.
In order for a jury to find that Arias' intentional killing was manslaughter, they must affirm that:
It is also possible that Arias may be acquitted entirely, if the jury finds she acted in self-defense.
Much of Jodi Arias' case depends on her claim that she killed Alexander in self defense, meaning:
The court has also allowed jurors to consider that Jodi Arias may have been the victim of domestic violence, and her actions may be judged like that of other domestic violence survivors.
Jurors in the Jodi Arias trial plan to deliberate from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mountain Time on weekdays until a verdict is reached. They don't plan to deliberate on weekends, HuffPo reports.
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