Jodi Arias jury foreman speaks out to say he is sure she was abused by Travis but that it's no excuse for murder

• The jury could not come to a unanimous decision about whether to execute Jodi Arias or to sentence her to life in prison
• They were the group that spent five months listening to graphic details about the 2008 murder of Travis Alexander
  
• Now a new jury must be called and they will be forced to decide what Jodi Arias' sentence should be for the premeditated murder
• The new jury will not be able to override the guilty verdict
• Move draws out the case longer as the new jury won't be called until July
  

By Meghan Keneally and Rachel Quigley

PUBLISHED: 07:39 EST, 24 May 2013 | UPDATED: 10:17 EST, 24 May 2013

The jury foreman in the Jodi Arias murder trial spoke out today, saying that while he believed Jodi was mentally abused by Travis Alexander, it was no excuse to brutally murder him.

Just one day after the judge declared a mistrial when the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict on whether or not she should be executed, Bill Zervakos spoke of the difficulties they faced during the five-month-long trial.

'When I walked into that court room for the first time and looked at the defendant - it is hard to put it into perspective, looking at that young woman and thinking about the brutality of the crime. It doesn't wash,' he said.

'It is difficult to separate yourself from the emotions and personal side of it.'

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Jury foreman: Bill Zervakos, left, has spoken of the shock he felt when seeing Jodi, right , when seeing her for the first time

 

Jury foreman: Jodi's time on stand hurt her

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW AT GOOD MORNING AMERICA

Speaking to Good Morning America, he admitted he did not think Jodi did herself any favors when she took the stand for 18 days because she had so many contradictory stories.

The hardest part, he said, was having to sit six feet away from Travis Alexander's family while listening to all the horrific things that happened to him.

'Until you are face to face with someone who is going through that, you cannot put it into words,' he said. 'If you cannot feel that then you have no emotion, no soul.

'But we couldn't allow ourselves to be emotional and for that I am very proud of my jurors, they did a fantastic job of holding it together - though it was a different story when we got into the jury room.

Speaking about Travis Alexander, he said: 'I am very sure in my own mind that Jodi was mentally and verbally abused by him. Is that an excuse? Of course not. Did it factor into the decision we made? It has to.'

The next step in the lengthy trial will now come on July 18, when an entirely new jury panel is determined and tasked with delivering the final verdict in the case. 

In tears: Jodi Arias looked frightened before the jury's non-decision was handed down, but her composure did not change dramatically after she realized that she was not being sentenced to death

Heartbroken: Travis Alexander's relatives, including his sister Tanisha (right) were a constant presence at the trial and they were moved to tears when they heard that it would drag on for more months

Jodi Arias Jury Cannot Decide on Death Penalty, Mistrial Declared

The scene in the Phoenix, Arizona, courtroom on Thursday afternoon - when the jury came back to the judge with their inability to agree - was not one of relief.

Arias herself looked upset and began crying, though not necessarily tears of joy.

Alexander's siblings, who have been a constant presence throughout and have all uprooted their lives in California to focus on the trial, were all crying as well.

One female juror was at least sympathetic to them, and she was seen mouthing the word 'sorry' toward the Alexanders.

Judge Sherry Stephens, who showed some tough love to the jury on Wednesday, was very complimentary to them yesterday.

'This was not your typical trial. You were asked to perform some very difficult duties,' she said.

Mistrial: Jody Arias reacts as the jury indicates it has not been able to reach a decision on the death penalty

The jury began deliberating Tuesday, and on Wednesday afternoon they told the Judge that they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

She ordered the jurors to go back and talk more until they came to a decision, but that was still not enough time as they came back later yesterday afternoon still at an impasse.

The new jury will not have any power to change her guilty conviction, and they will be solely tasked with determining how she will 'pay' for the first degree murder.

The decision follows a trial that has staggered on for five months over the 2008 slaying of Travis Alexander, Arias' on-again off-again boyfriend who she killed in his home in 2008. She stabbed him nearly 30 times, slit his throat, and shot him.

Fearful: Arias was surrounded by her legal team, and her relatives were not in the room though they had been regularly fixtures at the trial through much of the five months

Even for the most fastidious of court followers who have developed a sense of who Arias is over the past five months of the trial, her behavior in the past week has been confusing as she gave conflicting statements about her desire thoughts on a possible death sentence.

Immediately after her guilty verdict was handed down two weeks ago, she granted a local news station an interview where she said that she was 'in shock' and that she would rather be given the death penalty as opposed to a life sentence in prison.

Speaking to the local Fox affiliate KSAZ, Arias said that she would 'prefer to die sooner than later.'

‘Longevity runs in my family, and I don't want to spend the rest of my natural life in one place. I'm pretty healthy, I don't smoke and I'll probably live for a long time so that's not something that I am looking forward to.

'I believe death is the ultimate freedom and I'd rather have my freedom as soon as I can get it.'

Waiting game: Now the next jury will be impaneled on July 18 and this second portion of the trial- where the jury needs to determine the punishment for Arias- will be done for a second time

Those comments prompted courthouse officials to order that she be placed in a psychological hold and on suicide watch, which inevitably delayed the second portion of the sentencing- where jurors were forced to decide if the murder was especially aggressive.

During the ensuing testimony, called the aggravation portion of the trial, jurors heard from both sides who were able to call witnesses arguing that she should and shouldn't be forced to die, respectively.

When she addressed the court in her own defense, she she pledged, if allowed to live, to donate her hair to cancer patients and start a prison recycling program.

'I have made many public statements that I would prefer the death penalty to life in prison,' Arias told jurors. In each of those cases, 'I lacked perspective,' she said.

'Until very recently I could not imagine standing before you all and asking for you to give me life,' she said. 'But as I stand here now I cannot in good conscience ask you to sentence me to death.'