Jodi Arias Trial Update Today: Jodi Arias, Casey Anthony, Lorena Bobbitt Trials Continue to Fascinate America; Death Penatly Is Sexist But Can Famous `Femme Fatales' Get a Fair Trial?

Jodi Arias trial update today: Attorneys for Jodi Arias are asking that the jury be sequestered in the second Jodi Arias trial. Jodi Arias' attorneys filed a motion that seeks to have the new jury sequestered "to ensure that the jury is not exposed to community and/or media influence." Jodi Arias Judge Sherry Stephens hasn’t set a new trial date yet. A new report says a Jodi Arias death penalty decision is unlikely when you factor in that the United States only put 13 women to death in the last 40 years.

But the Jodi Arias trial also garnered excessive coverage. TV viewers were hypnotized by the millions as the Jodi Arias trial went on for five months. Because of the excessive publicity, Jodi Arias attorneys are asking that that sentencing phase of the trial be moved out of the Phoenix area. Jodi Arias’ lawyers filed a motion for a change of venue after finding that 70 percent of the media coverage in the state started in Maricopa County. Lawyers also want Jodi Arias trial live stream television coverage prohibited for the retrial.

A Wall Street Journal analysis of crime data found that, between 2000 and 2010, women committed less than 10% of all murders in the United States, but a recent report by the NAACP found that women defendants only make up 2% of death row. Death Penalty Information Center executive director Richard Dieter told Business Insider that even fewer women actually get executed. He said "There's just less enforcement of the death penalty at almost every stage for females."

The trials of Jodi Arias and Casey Anthony, and years ago the trial of Lorena Bobbitt, kept the nation glued to its TV. The trials of violent women have captivated America since the days of Lizzie Borden.

These femme fatales will all go down in history as villainous, conniving women whose crimes boggled the imagination. Car wrecks that we can't help but rubberneck. Why are we fascinated by these violent women and can they get a fair trial under such scrutiny?

Death Penalty Information Center executive director Richard Dieter told Business Insider that even fewer women actually get executed. He said "There's just less enforcement of the death penalty at almost every stage for females." Dieter said women commit about 10% of murders but were responsible for the murders of 35% of intimate partners crimes between 1980 and 2008. Most juries see these as crimes of passion arising rather that will not be repeated, one-time offenses. Men don’t get the same benefit of the doubt due to the high rate of domestic violence against women. Jodi Arias admitted she killed Travis Alexander, but said she acted in self-defense because he was given to bouts of rage. Prosecutors said the killing was premeditated and fueled by jealous rage after Alexander said he wanted to break up with Jodi Arias and go to Mexico with another woman.

Jodi Arias and Casey Anthony were both tried for killing people they loved. They both faced the death penalty. Casey Anthony was found not guilty. Jodi Arias was convicted.

The crimes of both Jodi Arias and Casey Anthony took place in June 2008. On June 8, 2008, Jodi Arias stabbed Travis Alexander 27 times, shot him in the face and slashed his throat from ear to ear so violently she almost took his head off. On June 16, 2008, Casey Anthony killed her child, Caylee Anthony. Both women denied having anything to do with the crime. Both claimed they had sketchy memories of the incidents. After blaming a masked intruder, Jodi Arias finally admitted she killed her boyfriend in self-defense. Both women were branded as liars and killers before their cases ever came to trial.

Lorena Bobbitt was convicted of cutting off her husband's penis after years of alleged abuse. Lizzie Borden was acquitted in the axe murder of her parents. In the modern cases the women accused were all found to have emotional disorders. Lorena Bobbitt was diagnosed with clinical depression and PTSD when she cut off her abusive husbands' penis. Casey Anthony's lawyer, Jose Baez suggested Casey Anthony had been sexually abused by her father, George. The prosecution painted this as a trick to to make Casey Anthony more sympathetic. George Anthony tried to kill himself after denying abuse on the stand. Jodi Arias steadfastly held to the story that she acted in self-defense, that Travis Alexander was prone to violent outburst that the two kept secret. The jury rejected that defense.

Lorena Bobbitt's husband John came home drunk from a party and had forcible sex with her. If they weren't married, under the law, this would be called rape. Lorena Bobbit cut off her husband's penis, panicked and ran out of the house with his penis still in her hand, finally throwing it out of her car window before realizing what she did and calling 911. She remembered the crime and it was proven that she was abused.

However, most states consider killing a child an aggravating factor and state prosecutors will seek the death penalty. On June 16, 2008, Casey Anthony killed her child, Caylee Anthony. Casey Anthony's lawyer, Jose Baez suggested Casey Anthony had been sexually abused by her father, George. The prosecution painted this as a trick to to make Casey Anthony more sympathetic.
Hiring someone to do the work could also land a woman on death row. Barbara Wu, a former University of California, Riverside student will have to stand trial on charges that she plotted to have ex-boyfriends murdered. Barbara Wu pleaded not guilty to six felony counts, including solicitation of murder and stalking.

Dieter said, "If a woman hires someone, there's a coldness, a calculation. It's different than something that arises out of an argument." The Washington Post reported that Teresa Lewis plotted to kill her husband and stepson for the insurance money. Prosecutor David Grimes told a judge at the time "Instead of pulling a trigger on a gun, she pulled a couple of young men in to pull the trigger for her." Teresa Lewis was the first woman in Virginia sentenced to die in more than 100 years.

Casey Anthony avoided the media. Jodi Arias embraced it. Lorena Bobbitt was denied it. Her husband went on to capitalize on it by making low-budget porn videos.

None of the women will ever be forgiven by the public. None of the sexual abuse that was alleged will ever be investigated.

by Tony Sokol