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Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said last week that her office had decided to retry the penalty phase of the case after the first sentencing jury deadlocked in May.

"Yes, I have made a decision on that," Mitchell said when asked whether prosecutors would try the penalty phase again. “Now, obviously, it's not a retrial of the guilt phase or the aggravation phase, but we are going to be retrying the sentencing phase of that case.”

The decision does not affect Mitcham’s convictions. A jury found Mitcham guilty in April of first-degree murder, sexual assault and burglary in Feldman’s killing.

Feldman, 31, was found dead in her Scottsdale home in February 2015 after she had been beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled.

What remains undecided is whether he should face life in prison or death.

The first sentencing phase ended May 27 in a mistrial after jurors twice told Maricopa County Superior Judge Sunita Cairo they could not reach a unanimous decision on whether Mitcham should be put to death.

The jury first reported May 26 that it was deadlocked. The same day, a separate note revealed that one juror had violated the court’s rules by asking her boyfriend, a former correctional officer, about the difference between death row and life in prison.

Cairo removed the juror and ordered the remaining jurors to start deliberations from scratch May 27. But after more deliberations, the jury again reported it could not reach a unanimous decision. Cairo declared a mistrial in the sentencing phase.

Under Arizona law, prosecutors can retry the death penalty phase before a new jury. If a second jury also deadlocks, Mitcham would automatically receive a life sentence.

Mitcham was arrested in 2018 after investigators tied him to the case through DNA evidence.

A new sentencing trial date has not yet been included in the materials reviewed for this draft.