Jodi Arias may have received a life sentence without parole, but she remains “chatty and smiley” according to her lawyer.

Jennifer Willmott is one of two lawyers who has worked for Arias during the trial of her boyfriend Travis Alexander

Wilmott said that in spite of her plea to the court on Monday, where Arias said she viewed the death penalty as a release because then she would be free, Arias was actually afraid of a death sentence.

“I don’t know how she feels about dying but it’s really what comes before that that’s so awful, to be on death row, so yeah, she was afraid of that, she did not want the death penalty,” said Willmott to ABC News affiliate KNXV in Phoenix.

And Willmott said Arias was now focused on her future, even though it was one behind bars. Her biggest hope is now to be “able to have a contact visit and hug her mom. She hasn’t been able to do that in seven years. She’d like to be able to hug her niece.”

Willmott, who is a public defender, said that she received death threats throughout the trial and that it came to a point where police had to contact one person to stop harassing her.

She also said that if she were given the chance to do it all over again, she would still represent Arias but would change some tactic they used during the trial, without going into further detail.
Source: Christian Post
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