Jury Will Grill 'Mormon Casey Anthony' On Her Relationship With Her Dead Ex
Arias, 32, is on trial for allegedly murdering her Mormon motivational speaker ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander.
Like Casey Anthony who came before her, Arias is a young, pretty brunette who got caught lying to investigators before enduring a trial that's dominated cable news.
Arias distinguished herself from Anthony — and most other defendants — by choosing to take the stand in her own defense.
Her trial is also odd because she'll have to take the questions directly from jurors.
Arizona, where she's being tried, is one of just three states that let jurors ask defendants questions directly, according to ABC News.
Their questions could be telling. Arias is accused of committing a gruesome crime. Alexander was stabbed 27 times, shot twice, and nearly decapitated.
Arias told investigators she knew nothing about his death and then made up a story about masked intruders before finally saying she killed him in self-defense. Jurors could see her as either a "victim or vixen," as HuffPost's Periel Aschenbrand called her.
HLN TV's Graham Winch has written that their questions might give everybody a few hints about how they might rule on the case. From his story:
"The jurors’ questions could be a bellwether moment in the trial. That questioning could indicate whether Arias will be convicted or acquitted of killing Alexander. The focus of their questions could give insight into the evidence, testimony and issues they are struggling to reconcile or understand."
Still, the verdict could always be surprising, as it was in the real Casey Anthony case.