Internet sleuths are currently obsessed with all of the gory details surrounding the death of Travis Alexander, a 31-year-old salesman from Mesa, AZ who was allegedly murdered in 2008 by his ex-girlfriend, Jodi Arias. But now that Investigation Discovery is revisiting the case with its new TV series Jodi Arias: An American Murder Mystery, true crime aficionados are wondering what happened to Jodi’s lawyer and why was he disbarred after defending Jodi during her trial. Keep reading below to find out!

Who is Jodi Arias’ lawyer?

Laurence “Kirk” Nurmi was the lead defense attorney that was appointed to Jodi when her case went to trial in 2011, and he argued that Travis’ death was a justified homicide because Jodi had acted in self-defense. But on May 7, 2012, Jodi was found guilty first-degree murder. In 2014, after a retrial, she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

jodi arias travis alexander myspace
Myspace

But even though Jodi was eventually found guilty, Laurence was still subjected to a lot of scrutiny on the internet for defending her and he was a target of a lot of hate by the public.

Why was Jodi Arias’ attorney disbarred?

In 2015, Laurence wrote a tell-all book about his experience while working on Jodi’s case titled Trapped with Ms. Arias: Part 1 of 3 From Getting the File to Being Ready for Trial, which he self-published without Jodi’s permission, according to local newspaper Phoenix New Times. The book contains excerpts of private and confidential conversations between Laurence and Jodi, which goes against the rules of attorney-client privilege which prevents either the client or attorney from disclosing any information from their conversations to outside sources.

jodi arias youtube/48 hours
YouTube/48 Hours

Since the book portrayed a negative view on Jodi, she filed a complaint with the State Bar of Arizona, which ultimately led to Laurence’s disbarment — which means his law license has been revoked and he is unable to practice law.

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