Phoenix criminal lawyer Adam Feldman has been tapped to provide expert legal commentary by several major news outlets in connection with the recent developments in the Jodi Arias murder case. Feldman, a criminal defense lawyer and former prosecutor, is a veteran of numerous homicide cases, having represented clients charged with murder and other homicide offenses. He has been interviewed over the past several days by 3TV, The Arizona Republic, and other news organizations.
Arias was convicted last year of murdering her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, but the jury was deadlocked on whether she should be sentenced to death. A new jury was empanelled to hear the sentencing phase of the case, which commenced last month. The hearing resumed today after a two-week hiatus. But prior to the resumption of the case before Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Sherry Stephens, Arias’ legal team, headed by attorney Kirk Nurmi, filed an explosive motion alleging that the prosecutor and law enforcement of destroying files on Alexander’s hard drive that would have been helpful to the defense. They are asking Judge Stephens to dismiss all charges against their client.
The defense says that thousands of computer files were intentionally destroyed by the prosecution, many of them involving child pornography. Since the prosecution portrayed Alexander during the trial as a devout Mormon, and the defense alleged that he was a sexual deviant, the allegations could be significant. In addition, when Arias took the stand at her trial, the defense attempted to portray her as a liar when she said that she found Alexander looking at child porn.
In his commentary, attorney Feldman said that, at least theoretically, “Jodi could walk.” He added that destruction of any evidence by law enforcement is never good. And if the judge finds that evidence was improperly withheld or destroyed, and the damage to the defense was sufficient, the remedy could be dismissal of all charges against Arias. He noted that the judge will have to weigh the damage resulting from the loss of the computer files, and consider all the other evidence in the case, before coming to a conclusion about the effect, if any, of the alleged misconduct.
The videos can been seen here:
http://www.azcentral.com/videos/news/local/arizona/2014/11/11/18836519/
(Video courtesy of AZcentral)
http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/Arias-lawyers-to-urge-jurors-to-spare-her-life-282410751.html
(Video courtesy of AZfamily)
We expect a ruling on the motion in the very near future.
The Feldman Law Firm PLLC
1 E. Washington Street
Phoenix, AZ 85004
(602) 540-7887
