Having already been convicted of Murder, the jury decided that Jodi Arias is eligible for the death penalty. The jury will go into deliberations soon to decide if her fate includes death.  As most of the world knows, the long publicized trial of Jodi Arias is over and she was found guilty by a Phoenix jury of first degree murder of her ex-boyfriend in 2008.
Arizona law allows the death penalty for murder and especially for depraved, heinous and unusually cruel violence.  Last Wednesday the jury found Arias guilty of inflicting extreme cruelty, thus making her eligible. After three hours of listening to facts, including the testimony of both the brother and sister of the victim, Travis Alexander, the eligibility was determined.
Other criteria considered in Arizona are:

  • Conviction of murder with previous capital convictions or homicides
  • Conviction of murder with previous serious offenses with violence
  • Creating grave risks of death
  • Killing anyone under the age of 15 or over the age of 70
  • Killing while in custody

Arizona is one of 35 states of the United States of America who recognize the death penalty.  In the past 20 years, Arizona reached a high in 2009 of doling out almost 15 death penalty sentences and the lowest years were 2002 and the current year with less than three. The death penalty has been in effect in Arizona since 1973; carried out by lethal injection (if the crime was committed after 1992) at the Arizona State Prison in Florence, Arizona.  Those who were sentenced prior to 1992 have their choice of injection or gas.
States that utilize the death penalty the most:

Texas

Texas has a higher average of death penalty convictions than all other states in the US with an average of 21 per year. They carry out the sentence by lethal injection.

Ohio

Ohio has an average of 8 convictions per year by lethal injection.

Alabama

Alabama averages sentencing 4 per year and is the highest average per capita.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma averages 3 convictions a year.

Virginia

Virginia has sentenced 10 to the death penalty since 2008, and does both lethal injections and electrocution.