Jodi Arias Trial Update: Defense Attorneys Motion To Prevent Twitter Users From Sitting on Upcoming Jury

Jodi Arias' defense attorneys are trying to prevent Twitter users from sitting on the jury of  Arias' upcoming retrial.

Kirk Nurmi and Jennifer Willmott filed a motion asking the judge to require all jurors "to disclose any Twitter accounts, if any, that they may have and/or any Twitter handles, if any, that they may use to the court prior to the commencement of the upcoming retrial as disclosure of this information is essential," reports ABC15 News.

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The attorneys reasoned that they want to make sure the jury is not discussing the case on Twitter or being influenced on the trial through the social media platform.   

Although a judge typically instructs selected jury members not to use their phones, the internet, or social media to talk about or research the case until it's over, the defense argued that a juror would be susceptible to receive info about the trial simply by being on Twitter.   They also noted that Tara Kelley, a juror that was picked as an alternate on Arias' last trial, was using Twitter during the case and even communicated with a member of the media through the social network.  According to the attorneys, Kelley made a comment on Facebook about Arias' temper and wrote on Twitter that "she believed she was allowed to view social media as long as she did not discuss the trial."

Arias' attorneys argued that "Twitter provides those who would like to influence Ms. Arias' jury with the means to do so in a way that could go undetected should this motion be denied."

The judge has not set a hearing to discuss the motion but could rule on the issue during a pretrial conference scheduled for Aug. 26.

Arias was convicted of first-degree murder on May 8 in the ghastly death of her ex-lover Travis Alexander in his suburban Phoenix home, reports the Associated Press.  It took the original jury only three hours of deliberation to decide that Arias killed Alexander in an "especially cruel, heinous, or depraved" manner that would warrant the death penalty.

 However, the same jury failed to reach an unanimous decision on her sentence. As a result, she will face another trial to determine whether she will be sentence with capital punishment or life in prison.