Jodi Arias Trial Update: Bitter Infighting Revealed In Unsealed Documents

As Judge Sherry Stephens unseals more transcripts from the Jodi Arias trial, its becoming evident the now-infamous courtroom battles broadcast to millions were only half the story.

Arias, 32, was found guilty in May of premeditated first-degree murder in the killing of her former boyfriend, 30-year-old Travis Alexander, in June 2008. An aspiring photographer and waitress from California, Arias maintained throughout the trial that she killed Alexander in self-defense. She testified that her ex was sadistic, had a "nearly predatory sex drive," and had a secret history of violent outbursts that forced her to fight for her life when she enraged him one day during a nude photo shoot at his Arizona home.

The ghastly, shocking nature of Arias' crime, as well as her steadfast insistence that she was a victim of Alexander's domestic abuse, dominated media coverage and polarized the public during the initial phase of her trial. Medical examiners found Arias stabbed Alexander nearly 30 times in the torso, chest, heart, and back, shot him in the face, and slit his throat from ear to ear with such intensity that it almost decapitated him—all in less than two minutes.

A jury convicted Arias, dismissing her claims of self-defense, but jurors could not unanimously agree whether she deserved the death penalty or life in prison, and announced they had reached an impasse. While her guilty verdict will still stand, Judge Stephens was forced to declare a hung jury. Now, both the prosecution and defense are gearing up for a July 16 hearing that will likely find Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery announcing the state's intentions to continue its pursuit of the death penalty for Arias.

Despite the almost unprecedented access the media has had to Arias' trial, a surprising amount of the in court action was kept hidden from the public in private judge sidebars obscured by a white-noise machine, and closed hearings, with the court transcripts sealed by Judge Stephens-until now. The Arizona Republic has acquired the recently unsealed court transcripts, and, just as you might suspect, the fights between prosecuting attorney Juan Martinez and Arias' defense were only a sliver of the real war waged behind-the-scenes.

The newly released transcripts show a desperate, embattled defense team struggling to keep pace with a bulldog prosecution. Both sides quibble over minuscule details of evidence and witnesses, and often outright insult one another in front of Judge Stephens.

One of the most common topics of the arguments centered around what could be admitted as evidence. A series of disagreements from April 2 and 4 exhibits the extremes attorneys on both sides of the court room would go to while fighting for the slightest foothold. As Arias' lawyer Jennifer Willmott explained her intentions for questioning defense expert witness psychotherapist Alyce LaViolette, Martinez grew impatient while discussing the contention that Alexander once told Arias he would commit suicide.

"There's a lack of trustworthiness there," Martinez insisted during a sidebar with Judge Stephens, according to the court transcript obtained by the Arizona Republic. "She's a liar. So, I'm just having a difficult time seeing how she can say that Mr. Alexander attempted suicide."

Martinez and Willmott continued to nip at one another, then, Martinez made things personal. "But the thing is that if Ms. Willmott and I were married, I certainly would say I F'g [sic] want to kill myself. That doesn't mean I want to kill myself. It just means there's a bad relationship and I want you to leave me alone."

Willmott didn't appreciate Martinez's quip. "Judge, just for the record, I think that that was an insult because he's trying to say that if he and I were married ..."

Martinez interrupted her: "That was a compliment, bad joke."

"I don't see it as either," said Willmott.

Judge Stephens did not admonish Martinez for the statement, and chose to simply instruct the prosecutor to "move past that."

During another sidebar just two days later, Martinez and Willmott returned to the same argument. This time around, Martinez snapped at Willmott, "Well, then maybe you ought to go back to law school."

Again, Judge Stephens said nothing. Then, Arias' other attorney Kirki Nurmi pleaded with the judge to reprimand Martinez for his statements, and Stephens cautioned to Martinez to keep things civil.

"Counsel, I understand some of this is tongue and cheek [sic]. Some of it is just the stress of trial, but let's try to be as professional as possible when we have these bench conferences," said Stephens.

Arias next returns to trial July 16.