Jodi Arias Juror: "I cried" after being summonsed again, one month after sensational trial
(CBS) MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. - A juror on the five-month long Jodi Arias trial says she received another summons for jury duty a month after she finished serving on the sensational murder case.
PICTURES: Jodi Arias guilty of first-degree murder
"I was released from serving on the Jodi Arias jury on Memorial Day weekend and exactly one month later, I got another jury summons. I cried," said Marilou Allen-Coogan, juror number 16, in an interview with CBS News' Crimesider.
Allen-Coogan, a 52-year-old overnight ER nurse, was one of the 12 jurors who served on the high-profile case, along with six alternates. The panel of 12 convicted Arias in the killing of her lover Travis Alexander, and weighed whether the former waitress and photographer should get the death penalty, but couldn't unanimously decide on a sentence.
The panel, which was sworn in Dec. 20, 2012, convicted Arias May 8. After nearly five months of testimony, jurors were dismissed May 23 after a judge announced a hung jury in the sentencing phase.
For Allen-Coogan, the high-profile trial was her first time serving as a juror. While she described the experience as unforgettable and said she didn't regret serving, she wasn't ready to serve again right away.
"It was a little ironic because we are supposed to be excused," she explained.
She said she took the initiative to make that happen.
"All it took was a phone call."
An individual who served on a jury panel for a trial is exempt from serving for two years, according to the website for the Maricopa County judicial branch of Arizona, which oversaw the Arias trial.
The list of names used to call people for jury service is created by combining the county's voter registration list and Arizona Department of Transportation records, Karen Arra, a spokeswoman for the Maricopa County judicial branch, wrote in an e-mail to Crimesider.
"These lists are updated approximately twice a year. If the names do not match up exactly then duplicate records are created in the jury system," Arra wrote. "This does happen occasionally, especially due to name changes due to marriage, divorce, etc."
When this does happen, and it has been less than 18 months since the individual has served, Arra says the person need only call the jury office to have the duplicate record removed, and be cleared of the obligation to serve again.
"I explained the circumstances, through my crying and blubbering mess. I had a mini-breakdown," Allen-Coogan told Crimesider.
The court personnel were "wonderful" and "extremely apologetic," she said, telling her, "It will be okay."
"I have no doubt that it was an oversight," the Arias juror said of the incident.
The 30-year-old Alexander suffered nearly 30 knife wounds at the hands of Arias, had his throat slit from ear to ear and was shot in the forehead. Arias, 33, admitted she killed Alexander, but claimed it was self-defense after he attacked her in his Mesa, Ariz. home in June 2008. Prosecutors successfully argued it was premeditated murder carried out in a jealous rage.
Just before they were dismissed, a judge thanked the jurors for their extended service.
"This was not your typical trial. You were asked to perform very difficult responsibilities," Judge Sherry Stephens said. "... I will be back shortly to personally thank each of you for your service."
Allen-Coogan said that if she had to serve on the high-profile murder trial again, she wouldn't have a problem -- as long as the time was right.
"I would do it again. It's my civic duty. It's how I was raised," she said.
Complete coverage of the Jodi Arias case on Crimesider