Susan Polk, the Orinda woman convicted last year of killing her husband, Felix, will be sentenced today. Posted on 02/23/2007 10:23:52 AM PST by SmithL
Susan Polk, the Orinda woman convicted last year of killing her husband, Felix, will be sentenced today.
Before the sentencing, Polk's attorney is expected to argue that the housewife deserves a new trial on the grounds that the judge erred in jury selection and instructions.
Let's take a look back at the some of the highlights of the bizarre trial of Polk, who hired and fired four attorneys, then finally ended up representing herself. (She has also had trouble finding a lawyer for the sentencing phase.)
The murder occurred way back in 2002, and immediately, the Polk's acrimonious divorce was at issue. She later testified about the day he was killed.
During the trial, Polks' kid's testimony was a source of intense scrutiny.
Her oldest son testified against her and returned to the stand later.
Another son testified on her behalf, and at one point sparred with the prosecutor. Polk also traded barbs with her youngest son's foster mother.
At one point, she "re-enacted" the crime.
Polk's claims of domestic abuse were supported by an expert, but her attempts to bring a psychic to the stand and detail her own psychic abilities may have interested jurors more.
Polk tried, repeatedly and unsucessfully, to be granted a mistrial.
The prosecutor and Polk exchanged barbs the whole way; he questioned her sanity. At one point, she called him a "baby."
One of the defense witnesses just didn't show up for a while, but eventually reappeared. . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Adam Polk (left) and his brother Gabriel, And for a lot more information on this case, search on keyword SusanPolk.
I wish we could see the sentencing. The trial itself was very strange. I'm positive that Suzie Slasher will make the sentencing even more exciting.
I can't imagine why you'd say such a thing.
; )
I'll let y'all know when I hear something.
MARTINEZ - A Superior Court judge today denied requests by attorneys for convicted murderer Susan Polk to grant the Orinda housewife a new trial or a reduced verdict.
"Ms. Polk was afforded more privileges than any defendant I have seen during my 10 years on the bench," Judge Laurel Brady said in response to a defense motion arguing that Polk did not receive a fair trial.
A jury convicted Polk, 49, last year of second-degree murder for stabbing to death her husband, Felix Polk, in 2002. They met when she was a teenager and he was her therapist.
Brady is schedule to sentence Polk today.
Polk's family, onlookers and press filled much of the courtroom. Three of her former attorneys sat against one wall. One son, Eli Polk, who testified on her behalf at trial, sat a few rows in back of her.
Her two other sons, Gabriel and Adam Polk, who testified against her, sat on the other side of the courtroom.
Her attorneys, Linda Fullerton and Paul Feuerwerker, had argued that Polk did not get a fair trial based on several grounds, including errors in jury selection, juror misconduct, judicial misconduct and bad jury instructions.
Fullerton also told Brady that the judge should reduce the murder verdict to voluntary manslaughter.
"When you get involved with that person when you're 14 years old, there's a power dynamic," Fullerton said. "This is a situation where manslaughter is the actual and honest result."
Deputy district attorney Paul Sequiera argued that Polk should get neither a new trial nor a reduced verdict. He cited her attorney's argument that in many ways Polk did not get a fair trial.
"Everyone bent over backward for the defendant from day one," Sequiera said. "She got more than a fair trial. She doesn't like how it turned out. That's how it goes."
Prosecutors said Polk planned to kill her husband after learning that she lost alimony and custody of his youngest son during their divorce settlement.
Acting as her own attorney at her trial, Polk said her husband attacked her and she stabbed him.
One of Polk's former neighbors, Elizabeth Drozdrowska, was brought into court in a wheelchair and offered the first witness statements before the lunch break.
The elderly woman shook as she spoke, declaring Polk wonderful mother and victim of an unethical psychologist.
"Susan Polk was kidnapped as a child," she said, as Polk wept. "Dr. Polk used his particular professional skills to seduce her, to control her."
As the former neighbor described Polk as a woman who suffered through a traumatic relationship, Polk's mother, Helen Bolling, shouted, "Hallelujah!" breaking the silence of the otherwise calm courtroom.
During trial, Brady reprimanded Polk many times each day for interrupting and speaking out of turn. She told Polk four times this morning to keep her voice down while speaking with her attorneys.
"I am not talking loudly," Polk replied.
More witnesses are expected to testify this afternoon.
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