After yesterday's events I would like nothing more than for the Jury to come back with death, particularly to write failure all over the defense teams strategy, in addition to the fact that she deserves to sit in a cage in isolation for the rest of her life.
However, the DP is so broken in the US that it may be better in the long run if she gets LWOP (I do not believe that JSS, for all her faults, will grant her LWP). As Katiecoolady said, one of her sisters' killers had their DP conviction overturned and came horribly close to becoming eligible for parole.
There are many people in the legal field, including judges, that are simply opposed to the DP, and any of these people could eventually become her benefactors, regardless of the facts of the case or what she actually deserves. In that sense, and in spite of JSS far too liberal approach regarding secrecy, I think she did as good a job as possible to block the possibility of a successful appeal. I'm just not sure it will be enough given the controversial climate of the DP in this country.
So in spite of the satisfaction of the ultimate victory a DP verdict will bring in the short term, I'm not sure that a LWOP verdict may not be a more lasting victory.
The judge has plenty of other work to do also.
