Jodi Arias Trial Update Today: Jurors Go Home For A Week In Jodi Arias Retrial As Third Juror Dismissed; Jodi Arias Retrial Juror Arrested

Jodi Arias Trial Update Today: The Jodi Arias retrial was delayed for a week after a third juror was dismissed from the death penalty portion of the trial after reportedly getting arrested.

On Monday, Maricopa County Superior Court held a status conference out of earshot of the press and the public.

Melissa Lenette Garcia, 36, Juror number 3 at the Jodi Arias retrial, RadarOnline.com reported, was arrested on a bad check charge. According to Maricopa County jail, Garcia was arrested on November 28, the day after Thanksgiving.

In October, one of the Jodi Arias retrial jurors was dismissed for a family emergency on the first day of the retrial. On the second day, a second juror was dismissed for talking to a reporter she believed was Nancy Grace, talk show host at HLN.

Kirk Nurmi, Jodi Arias' lead lawyer, reminded Judge Sherry Stephens there were three witnesses refusing to testify in public. He told the judge we wanted time to take an appeals court order forbidding secret testimony to the Arizona Supreme Court.

Judge Stephens ordered the jury to return on Dec. 15. An evidentiary hearing will be heard on Thursday that does not include the jury.

There is speculation that testimony may continue into January.

KPHO reported that two evidentiary hearings were also held last Thursday and Friday as the defense continues to fight to remove the death penalty from penalty options, citing three witnesses who refuse to testify in open court on her behalf for fear they will be harassed or threatened if they testify, according to court filings last week.

Arias' attorneys say the refusal to testify bars Jodi from receiving a complete defense. The jury is weighing evidence that will determine whether Jodi Arias is sentenced to life in prison or put to death for the killing of her former boyfriend, Travis Alexander.

The three witnesses who refuse to testify have not been publicly identified. Arias's lawyers say one is a longtime boyfriend of the defendant, one of the witness is a former Arias co-workers and one of the witnesses was a friend of Travis Alexander before he met Arias.

The Maricopa County Attorney's Office, has made no comment on Arias' legal team's request to throw out the death penalty.

Last month, an Arizona appeals court ruled that the Jodi Arias triail will be open for all testimony, including the reporters and the public.

"This ruling has further inhibited Ms. Arias' ability to present a complete defense of her life to the point that should a sentence of death be imposed by this jury, said sentence would be unconstitutional," said Kirk Nurmi, Jodi Arias' lead attorney.

Jodi Arias was convicted of first-degree murder on May 8, 2013 in the June 2008 death of Travis Alexander, but the jury couldn't reach a unanimous decision on whether to sentence the former waitress to death or life in prison.

Alexander was found murdered in the shower of his Mesa, Ariz., home in June 2008. Alexander's throat had been violently slit, he was stabbed 27 times and shot in the head.

In Arizona, capital-murder trials have three parts. First, a jury has to find the person guilty of first-degree murder. Jodi Arias was found guilty on May 8, 2013. Second, jurors decide whether there were any aggravating factors. The jury found that the murder was committed in an especially cruel fashion one week later. The third is sentencing. Under Arizona law, Jodi Arias' murder conviction stands, but prosecutors can pursue a death sentence in the penalty phase with a new jury. If the second jury fails to reach a verdict, the death penalty would be removed as an option. Judge Stephens would then sentence Jodi Arias to either life behind bars or be eligible for release after 25 years.

An appeals court decision last week overturned a ruling that closed the courtroom as Arias' first witness testified. Her lawyers previously said the witness would testify only in a closed courtroom.

The Arizona Court of Appeals is asking Judge Stephens to release a transcript of the Oct. 30 testimony.