Jodi Arias Trial: Woman charged in ex-boyfriend's murder suffers from dissociative amnesia, expert testifies

(AP) PHOENIX - A defense witness says Jodi Arias suffers from dissociative amnesia and that explains why she can't remember much from the day she says she killed her lover in self-defense.

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Psychologist Richard Samuels testified Monday at Arias' Arizona murder trial that such amnesia is caused with a person suffers a traumatic event, such as a killing.

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Arias faces the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder in the June 2008 death of Travis Alexander in his suburban Phoenix home.

Authorities say she planned the attack. Arias initially told investigators she had nothing to do with it then blamed it on masked intruders. Two years after her arrest, she said it was self-defense.

Samuels explained last week how Arias suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and memory loss.

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