Taxpayer Costs For Jodi Arias' Defense Top $2.7 Million

Taxpayer Costs For Arias' Defense Top $2.7 Million
Jodi Arias looks at her attorney in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix, Friday, Nov. 21, 2014, during the sentencing phase retrial of Arias. Arias was found guilty of first degree murder in the death of former boyfriend Travis Alexander, but the jury hung on the penalty phase, life in prison or the death sentence. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Tom Tingle, Pool)
Jodi Arias looks at her attorney in Maricopa County Superior Court in Phoenix, Friday, Nov. 21, 2014, during the sentencing phase retrial of Arias. Arias was found guilty of first degree murder in the death of former boyfriend Travis Alexander, but the jury hung on the penalty phase, life in prison or the death sentence. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Tom Tingle, Pool)

PHOENIX (AP) — The cost to Arizona taxpayers for Jodi Arias' defense now tops $2.7 million, and the figure will keep rising as her penalty phase retrial continues in a Phoenix courtroom.

Maricopa County spokeswoman Cari Gerchick released Thursday the amount billed so far by Arias' two court-appointed attorneys after she was unable to pay for her own defense. The figure is up more than $200,000 from the one released in late September.

Prosecutors have declined to provide their costs to try the case.

Arias was convicted of murder last year in the 2008 killing of ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander but jurors were unable to agree on a sentence.

A new jury is hearing testimony on whether to grant prosecutors' request for the death penalty. Otherwise, Arias will face life in prison.

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