ARIAS: Verdict is good news

The guilty verdict of Jodi Arias of first-degree murder is refreshing. Arias was declared guilty of not only killing her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in 2008 but shooting him in the head, stabbing him at least 30 times and slitting his throat. Her defense was Alexander had attacked her because Arias had dropped his camera while taking pictures of him in the shower. After Arias changed her story several times, she finally admitted she did kill Alexander to defend herself against his supposed abuse.

I applaud the courageous jurors who did not allow Arias to passively sit by and watch. They challenged her story by not only listening to the lawyers ramp up their defense, but questioned her for 18 days, an unprecedented event.

In America we have watched people escape from obvious guilt. Many Americans remember OJ Simpson’s acquittal of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman. I remember being glued to the television during those eight months in 1995 and could not believe the verdict. Everyone believed he was guilty. And yet, despite blaring testimony and evidence, he was able to walk as a free man.

I applaud the 15 jurors who stood up and made a stand. We need more courageous people like them, not afraid of the system, willing to embrace the challenge of putting a wrong, not necessarily right, but making the guilty person pay for their crime.

There is good in America and some Americans still do the right thing.

DIANE SAMSON

Coeur d’Alene