CA - Dr. Felix Polk, 70, stabbed to death, Orinda, 14 Oct 2002

[concernedperson]

CC's show today, the state has rested.....closing arguments start Monday. Finally, an end in sight. Also, they will lose one juror on the 19th due to a new job position. Maybe the jury will not take too long wth this case at all.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I totally agree. Judge Brady has let that woman get away with turning that courtroom into Polk's kitchen, going so far as to even allow the pro per to argue that the prosecutor doesn't want to hear the psychic because even she makes more money that the DA. Imagine the level of Polk's mind and her being able to get away with it.

This case is undoubtedly the most bizarre I have seen in almost 30 years of reading about crimes.

All through this trial I thought about the Colin Ferguson case who also went pro per and how totally different the Judge was in that case. He kept him on the issues that were relevant only and immediately denied motions on trivial stuff CF wanted entered that meant nothing. He certainly didn't make the courtroom become a three ring circus like JB has done in this one. That case has not been overturned and I highly doubt it ever will.

Some are saying that Judge Brady had to allow everything in including the kitchen sink to prevent the case from being overturned is just plain ridiculous imo. I am sure the Appellate court will shake their heads in dismay one day if they read all the thousands of pages of transcripts about all these "fluff" non-relevant witnesses.

I have come to feel maybe Judge Brady wants Susan to get off with a very light sentence in this case. I for one hopes she gets the maximum allowed for first degree premeditated murder.

IMO

Ocean

 

[Bobbisangel]

It could also be that Judge Brady has let Susan run the show on purpose. What better picture of Susan Polk could the jury have gotten then to hear and see her in action everyday. Look at the way we are all reacting. Can you imagine sitting in a courtroom with Susan on the loose 5 days a week? If the jury started out thinking that she was innocent I'll bet there isn't one of the jurors that can stand to look at her now. We are only getting bits and pieces of her behavior but they have to put up with it day in and day out. I will be surprised if she doesn't get murder in the 1st....I mean shocked. I just wonder if the judge hasn't let Susan "hang herself."

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

They had the psychic that testified for Polk on Catherine Crier. IMO the woman is as deluded as Polk. She seemed more focused on her opinion that members of the the jury "believed" in people being "intuitive" (what does that have to do with being supposedly clairvoyant/telekinetic/telepathic ?). However, her own "intuition" seemed rather dubious as she seemed to believe Polk's hokum and did not seem aware of the angry/testy vibe from the jury that all the other court reporters observed, as they had been relegated to cooling their heels in the hallway for hours on end while Polk tried to argue for delays.

 

[yadler]

I agree. Entering the pool house with a kitchen (paring) knife, says it all as far as I am concerned. She's another Ito. Wonder why. What is she afraid of vis-a-vis SP?

 

[mysteriew]

She accuses judge of inappropriate actions, mistake
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/06/09/MNG5TJBPE267.DTL

 

[mysteriew]

I wanted to do a poll, but since it isn't in it's own forum I can't. But I think she is guilty and I think the jury will come back with guilty of murder in the first degree.



Here are the choices: first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter,
With an attorney she might have gotten guilty but insane, but since that isn't an option, I think they will come back with guilty to the max.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I wanted to do a poll, but since it isn't in it's own forum I can't. But I think she is guilty and I think the jury will come back with guilty of murder in the first degree.



Here are the choices: first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter,
With an attorney she might have gotten guilty but insane, but since that isn't an option, I think they will come back with guilty to the max.

ITA.

If the jury looks at the evidence and follows the law they will come back with First Degree imo.

If found guilty of the maximum I hope she gets LWOP.

IMO

Ocean

 

[yadler]

ITA.

If the jury looks at the evidence and follows the law they will come back with First Degree imo.

If found guilty of the maximum I hope she gets LWOP.

IMO

Ocean

If Polk is convicted, can anyone here imagine the number of appellate lawyers she is going to go through? The reams of complaints and subsequent briefs that she will file? She's not going to take someone else having the last word, is she? She will pound everyone's patience and attempt to grind them down. This is never going to end.

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

I wanted to do a poll, but since it isn't in it's own forum I can't. But I think she is guilty and I think the jury will come back with guilty of murder in the first degree.



Here are the choices: first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter,
With an attorney she might have gotten guilty but insane, but since that isn't an option, I think they will come back with guilty to the max.

I think the jury will come back with 2nd, if for no other reason they've been exposed to how damaged her mental/emotional faculties are.

 

[mysteriew]

Looking at it from the jury's point of view.....they heard the repeated requests for mistrial, the aside comments they were repeatedly told to ignore, they were repeatedly sent back to the jury room while things were being discussed and it wouldn't take them a long time to figure out what was happening and wouldn't have gotten them on her side, among other witnesses they saw a doctor who left or forgot to bring or had evidence stolen from him, and a psychic, and hostile children of Polk's- testifing on both sides. She chose to represent herself. She accused the jury of laughing and sleeping.
The trial delays kept the jury from their normal life.
I think she alienated the jury early on.
Most people don't want to think a woman is really capable of planning and carrying out a murder, but I think they will believe she is capable.

 

[cinsbythesea]

Looking at it from the jury's point of view.....they heard the repeated requests for mistrial, the aside comments they were repeatedly told to ignore, they were repeatedly sent back to the jury room while things were being discussed and it wouldn't take them a long time to figure out what was happening and wouldn't have gotten them on her side, among other witnesses they saw a doctor who left or forgot to bring or had evidence stolen from him, and a psychic, and hostile children of Polk's- testifing on both sides. She chose to represent herself. She accused the jury of laughing and sleeping.
The trial delays kept the jury from their normal life.
I think she alienated the jury early on.
Most people don't want to think a woman is really capable of planning and carrying out a murder, but I think they will believe she is capable.

I'm with you - I think she represented herself to the fullest extreme - letting the jury know just who she really is. A woman who would subject two of her three children to what she put them through on the stand for days, and two of those three children being upstanding citizens and the one that stood up for her with his own issues--hmmm. But then again - I didn't figure a predominantly woman jury would let Michael Jackson off. This will most definitely be a verdict to watch for. Iwill never take a jury's decision for granted again after the Jackson (gag) verdict. But as always (in case any of you are reading) - I am SO grateful for my SM County jury that saw through all the deceit and convicted Peterson. The system does work! Let's hope it does in Polk's case...

 

[nanandjim]

I think the jury will come back with 2nd, if for no other reason they've been exposed to how damaged her mental/emotional faculties are.

I think that they should come back with first-degree murder. However, if they take into account that Felix divorced his wife to marry a very young patient of his, they may come back with a lesser charge. What a screwed up family! I feel sorry for the kids.

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I think that they should come back with first-degree murder. However, if they take into account that Felix divorced his wife to marry a very young patient of his, they may come back with a lesser charge. What a screwed up family! I feel sorry for the kids.

I really think they are going to discard what happened 30 years ago.......it has nothing to do with the crime she is charged with...if they follow the laws and I think they will and concentrate on the events around the night this happened then they will come back with First Degree.

I feel sorry for these children too...imo Susan was very lacking in the teachings and nurturing of her children. She simply seemed to use them as pawns. Imo, Gabe nor Adam will ever let her into their lives again. She has left too many painful memories and Eli her chosen one is so messed up that I believe he will continue to have no respect for rules or authority and stay in trouble. He is just like his mother imo.

IMO

Ocean

 

[concernedperson]

Some of it is so simple to me and some of it has the old question WHY? Because we don't fully understand all the personality disorders...there are levels....these levels determine life or death, in some instances.It is like the child molester who escalates. Why?

Some of the personality disordered function just fine in society.They just go around manipulating and pissing people off. Giving us mother-in-law talk into the next millenium. Then, we see the ones that are not satisfied with normal response or even contrived response.....we see the aftermath.The trigger is known only to them. This is the scary part. Where to draw a line?

She deserves to be behind bars with little or no recognition. Like Scott Peterson. These have escalated and acted on their own agendas. Both egos have gone way beyond what is acceptable or forgiveable.

 

[chicoliving]

Even though murder defendant Susan Polk's relationship with her late husband began inauspiciously more than 20 years ago, she did not have the right to kill him in 2002, prosecutor Paul Sequeira stated during his closing argument Monday.

"She has lied to you folks, she has lied to you all along during this trial and she is guilty of murder in the first degree,'' Sequeira said. Polk sat taking notes during Sequeira's argument, constantly interrupting with a string of objections and 16 calls for a mistrial based on misconduct. All were denied.

more at link
http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_3928909

 

[BillyGoatGruff]

I really think they are going to discard what happened 30 years ago.......it has nothing to do with the crime she is charged with...if they follow the laws and I think they will and concentrate on the events around the night this happened then they will come back with First Degree.

I feel sorry for these children too...imo Susan was very lacking in the teachings and nurturing of her children. She simply seemed to use them as pawns. Imo, Gabe nor Adam will ever let her into their lives again. She has left too many painful memories and Eli her chosen one is so messed up that I believe he will continue to have no respect for rules or authority and stay in trouble. He is just like his mother imo.

IMO

Ocean

Makes you wonder why the hell anyone would want to marry anyone like that in the first place.

 

[Bobbisangel]

Did it get wrapped up today? The last I heard today was that the Pros was done and everyone agreed that his closing argument was great. Susan was just beginning her closing. Knowing Susan and the way she likes to carry everything out for days and days it is hard telling when she will end hers. I would think though that the judge would set a time limit. I think most judges do that.

If I was on that jury I would walk into the jury room and say "let's take a vote" that way you can get an idea where everyone is at. It wouldn't surprise me if everyone voted "guilty of 1st degree murder." The whole thing might take 5 minutes and back into the courtroom they go.

 

[LinasK]

POSTED: 7:28 am PDT June 12, 2006
UPDATED: 7:16 pm PDT June 12, 2006


MARTINEZ -- Susan Polk, an Orinda woman accused of murdering her psychotherapist husband in 2002, gave most of her closing argument Monday afternoon in Contra Costa County Superior Court.

Before beginning her closing argument, Polk, who is acting as her own attorney, moved for a mistrial twice, which had not been an unusual occurrence throughout the trial. During Prosecutor Paul Sequeira's closing argument, she moved for a mistrial more than a dozen times.

He said she had destroyed important evidence that would show whether or not she was telling the truth, like the clothes she had been wearing during the incident.

Propped on an easel behind her as she spoke, Polk had a large picture of herself at age 14, which was the age she was when she was sent to Felix Polk for psychotherapy, where he allegedly drugged and raped her.

Throughout the trial, she has accused Brady and the district attorney's office of bias, fabricating evidence and judicial misconduct and she has claimed that her husband was a spy for an Israeli intelligence agency known as the Mossad. Today she said she is not on trial for any of those claims. Even if the jury finds that she is delusional, she said, she still had the right to defend herself.


"Whether we like it or not, that's when the story began," Polk said.

Polk, who has had a tendency to be long-winded throughout the nearly 14 weeks of trial, has only 10 more minutes for her closing argument Tuesday, but stated that she will need more time. Brady said they could talk about extending the time limit Tuesday. The prosecution and the defense were each given three hours for closing arguments.

Sequeira will then have an opportunity to rebut her arguments before the case goes to the jury for deliberations. more at link:http://www.ktvu.com/news/9355325/detail.html

 

[Moe]

The poor juriors must be ready to run away screaming at this point. I hope Judge Brady keeps a tight rein on SP today and makes her finish quickly.

Ususally during a trial I end up with some opinion regarding the outcome, sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm wrong. I have absoulutly no idea how this is going to end! I believe she's crazy, but I also believe she did it. We'll all find out soon enough.