What are some questions that Jo-Ellan Dimitrius might have suggested to defense attorneys that would have helped them to select favorable jurors? The body of Travis Alexander, a salesman for

Trial consultants often assist lawyers by
formulating questions to ask during voir
dire. What are some questions that Jo-Ellan Dimitrius might have suggested to defense attorneys that would have helped them to select favorable jurors?
The body of Travis Alexander, a salesman for a legal services company, was discovered in the shower of his home in Mesa, Arizona on June 9, 2008. He had been stabbed nearly 30 times, his throat had been cut, and he had been shot in the head. Exactly one month later, his ex-girlfriend, Jody Arias, was indicted on charges of first-degree murder and the prosecutor announced that he would seek the death penalty. Despite her claims of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse by Alexan- der (delivered over an “unprecedented” 18 days of
testimony) and her attorneys’ arguments that the kill- ing was in self-defense, Arias was found guilty in May, 2013. The sentencing phase ensued, but ended in a mistrial when jurors were unable to agree on a sentence.
By this point, the case had attracted widespread national attention due to gavel-to-gavel coverage on cable network HLN. So when prosecutors launched a second penalty phase with a new jury in 2014, 300 pro- spective jurors were summoned, and the defense team did some summoning of its own, enlisting trial con- sultant Jo-Ellan Dimitrius to help with jury selection. A primary concern was the possibility that a stealth juror?someone who had already made up his or her mind about punishment?would lie in order to be cho- sen. The second sentencing phase also ended in a hung jury, and Arias was eventually sentenced to life impris- onment without the possibility of parole.