Media surround jurors after they found Susan Polk
guilty of second degree murder of her husband Felix.
Posted on 06/17/2006 12:53:03 PM PDT by SmithL
MARTINEZ - Susan Polk will arrive this summer at a state prison in Chowchilla, a world away from her once posh life as a homemaker who loved to garden at her million-dollar Orinda home.
That bus ride could come days after July 14, when Judge Laurel Brady is scheduled to sentence Polk to 16 years to life in prison for stabbing to death her husband, Felix Polk, in 2002.
When a court clerk read the second-degree murder verdict Friday, one of the few close supporters with Polk in the courtroom was her case manager, Valerie Harris, who the defendant fired at least three times during the trial.
Polk's brother and mother were tending to rental properties in San Diego.
Eli Polk, the lone son who supported her, could not listen to the jury's decision because he is sitting in County Jail serving a sentence for misdemeanor battery on a former girlfriend.
So there was Polk moments before the verdict, dabbing her tears with tissues as she looked back at the two sons who testified against her.
"She loves them so much, still, even after all this," Harris said. "It was a shame that Eli couldn't be here on her side to support her, or her mother or her brother. But Susan took it very stoically -- she was very brave."
Helen Bolling, Polk's 72-year-old mother, who became a courtroom regular, worries about how her daughter will adjust to prison life.
"I'm just heartbroken," she said. "I think the verdict was unjust."
Polk can appeal the verdict. Because she represented herself, however, she cannot use one of the most common appeal grounds -- a claim of ineffective counsel.
Still, Polk on Friday asked Brady to assign her a public defender before the July sentencing hearing. Polk said she will file legal motions that center on the trial's fairness and validity.
Polk, who has been in and out of County Jail for more than two years, will be sent to Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, said sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee.
While at the nation's largest women's prison, Polk can take a variety of jobs, including auto-body repair, painting and landscaping. After prison staff evaluate her, she could remain in Chowchilla or serve out her sentence at the California Institution for Women in Corona.
Polk will first be eligible for parole in 2020 -- when she is 62 -- after serving at least 85 percent of her minimum sentence. Even then, it's a high order for a murderer to earn parole.
Just six of the 6,615 women paroled in 2004 had second-degree murder convictions, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Deputy district attorney Paul Sequeira, who was on the receiving end of countless insults from Polk, sarcastically implied that parole for Polk is doubtful.
"The parole board will only let you out after you acknowledge your guilt, say you're sorry and go through some therapy in prison," he said at a news conference after the trial. "I'll let you figure out if any of those three things are ever going to happen."
Bye bye, Susan.
I wonder if she'll let Horowitz handle her appeal.
"Polk's brother and mother were tending to rental properties in San Diego."
I have no sympathy for this woman, but her mother not being there seems wrong.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Susan Polk would have been better served if she hadn't acted as her own attorney, but it wouldn't have averted her murder conviction, jurors and legal experts said Friday.
An attorney would probably have cut off any talk of psychics, fairies, conspiracy theories, family dogs and the alleged looting of the Polk family's estate. The lawyer would have focused instead on Polk's claim of self-defense, experts said.
And jurors wouldn't have been subjected to Polk's unorthodox behavior in court -- including repeated motions for a mistrial to accusations of misconduct by the judge and prosecutor -- and hours of often repetitive testimony by Polk.
But jurors said Friday that none of her antics would have changed their verdict.
At best, they would have been back to their normal lives a lot sooner had an attorney "expedited the process," said juror Pat Roland.
Asked if Polk was happy with her lawyering skills, Polk's assistant and friend, Valerie Harris, said, "She said just before the verdict came down that if she had to represent herself again, she would do it all over, because she learned a lot."
Harris said Polk "absolutely" plans to appeal and to represent herself again. "She said this time she'll be better at it," she said. . . .
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/06/17/MNG72JFTDR1.DTL
"The parole board will only let you out after you acknowledge your guilt, say you're sorry and go through some therapy in prison,"
Those parole hearings will be seriously funny. This really was a demented trial. Mossad, 9-11, trances..this one had it all!
Leni
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.