Post by KC on Mar 22, 2006 23:24:13 GMT -5
03/22/2006 - Testimony in the murder trial of Susan Polk resumed this afternoon after the judge declined the prosecutor's request that she strip Polk of the right to defend herself.
The afternoon's testimony marked a return to some sense of normalcy after a morning session marked by prosecutor Paul Sequeira's complaining that Polk has made a farce of the trial by repeatedly testifying during her cross examination and unfairly impugning his integrity.
After four days of plodding cross examinations by Polk, delays caused by her health and her seemingly unending objections, complaints and requests for a mistrial, prosecutor Paul Sequeira -- whose patience has worn increasingly thin -- finally had enough this morning.
He forcefully told Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Laurel Brady that Polk has ignored the judge's warnings, made speeches before the jury and leveled accusations of prosecutorial misconduct "every 15 minutes."
Enough is enough, he said, imploring Brady to revoke Polk's right to defend herself -- a request Brady ultimately rejected.
"We have gone far beyond the pale of what is reasonable. This jury, God knows what they're thinking right now," Sequeira said after jurors had been cleared from the courtroom.
True to form, Polk made an objection. Sequeira was not deterred.
"The defendant's style in this case is to be passive-aggressive," Sequeira said. "She flouts this court's authority at every opportunity so that it makes this trial somewhat of a farce."
Polk made another objection. Sequeira was not deterred. He said Polk has repeatedly offered testimony in the guise of questioning when she couldn't introduce evidence in another way.
"She's doing it on purpose, and she knows better," he said.
Polk offered more objections as Sequeira, clearly exasperated, slapped his hand on the table several times as she spoke. She also blasted Sequeira for raising his voice during his "diatribe" and for "taking inappropriate personal potshots at me."
And then she told the court, "Maybe he should start acting like a lawyer instead of being a baby."
The exchange highlighted the often surreal nature of the trial, in which Polk, who is 48 and described by her son as delusional, stands accused of killing her psychotherapist husband, Felix Polk, 70, in their Orinda home in October 2002. Prosecutors say she killed during an acrimonious divorce; she argues she acted in self-defense during an abusive relationship.
Polk has been acting as her own attorney, and though she seemed to get off to a solid start during the first week of the trial, her plodding cross-examination of her youngest son -- who firmly believes his mother is guilty and is testifying for the prosecution coupled with frequent objections and requests or a mistrial have tried the patience of the prosecutor and the judge. Even the court reporter -- a person who, in any courtroom, is usually seen, not heard -- expressed frustration on Tuesday, complaining that Polk would often talk over the witness.
In court this morning, Polk said she's bound to make a few missteps because she's not a lawyer.
"The law is a bit of a puzzle," she said. But that doesn't mean that Sequeira should keep on interrupting her with his "gestures, grimaces, facial expressions and objections," she said.
"He is goading me," she argued.
Brady did not revoke Polk's pro per status -- the legal term for defending oneself. But the judge once again dressed down Polk, denouncing Polk's claim that she has been following the rules. And Brady once again warned Polk that she risks losing the jury's attention.
"The jury is getting forgotten in this equation," the judge said, adding that Polk should be more concerned about how the jurors and not the judge or prosecutor are reacting to the testimony.
"This pattern of behavior that we seem to be going through is alienating the jury," Brady said.
Polk on Tuesday wrapped up her questioning of her son Gabriel Polk, 19, who has told his mother from the stand that he believes she is guilty.
Sequeira called his second witness today, Dan Lawrence, who was chief of police in Orinda when the killing occurred. Lawrence, who is now Clayton police chief, testified for five minutes, noting that Felix Polk called him one week before he was killed and said he believed his wife was returning from Montana, where she lived at the time, to "blow his head off."
Polk spent more than hour questioning the police chief. Her cross-examination suggested that her defense would hinge, at least in part, on the belief that she didn't report the alleged abuse she endured at her husband's hands because she didn't trust the police and thought they would side with her husband.
"Isn't it true that women who are victims of domestic abuse back out, get scared, fail to appear and make bad witnesses?" Polk asked. Lawrence replied yes, that was possible. When Polk tried to introduce as evidence letters she wrote to police, Sequeira objected, saying the missives were hearsay.
Once the jury had been cleared from the room, Brady told Polk that she was free to testify as to what she wrote in the letters.
"I don't disagree that your state of mind is relevant, it's the method," she told the defendant.
As the trial wound down for the lunch break, Polk, in what has become almost standard procedure, once again sought a mistrial.
"It is denied," the judge said.
"I move for a replacement of this prosecutor," Polk said.
"Denied," the judge said.
Testimony resumed after lunch when Sequeira called to the stand the first sheriff's deputy to arrive at the crime scene. The deputy testified that he found Felix Polk in a pool house awash in blood, and testified that Susan Polk said, "Oh well, we were getting a divorce anyway" when told of her husband's death.
Polk countered during her cross examination that she actually said, "We were getting a divorce." And like Sequeira, Polk presented graphic crime scene photographs to the jury.
"I'm sorry to show such gruesome photos," she told jurors, "but it's become necessary."
The afternoon's testimony marked a return to some sense of normalcy after a morning session marked by prosecutor Paul Sequeira's complaining that Polk has made a farce of the trial by repeatedly testifying during her cross examination and unfairly impugning his integrity.
After four days of plodding cross examinations by Polk, delays caused by her health and her seemingly unending objections, complaints and requests for a mistrial, prosecutor Paul Sequeira -- whose patience has worn increasingly thin -- finally had enough this morning.
He forcefully told Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Laurel Brady that Polk has ignored the judge's warnings, made speeches before the jury and leveled accusations of prosecutorial misconduct "every 15 minutes."
Enough is enough, he said, imploring Brady to revoke Polk's right to defend herself -- a request Brady ultimately rejected.
"We have gone far beyond the pale of what is reasonable. This jury, God knows what they're thinking right now," Sequeira said after jurors had been cleared from the courtroom.
True to form, Polk made an objection. Sequeira was not deterred.
"The defendant's style in this case is to be passive-aggressive," Sequeira said. "She flouts this court's authority at every opportunity so that it makes this trial somewhat of a farce."
Polk made another objection. Sequeira was not deterred. He said Polk has repeatedly offered testimony in the guise of questioning when she couldn't introduce evidence in another way.
"She's doing it on purpose, and she knows better," he said.
Polk offered more objections as Sequeira, clearly exasperated, slapped his hand on the table several times as she spoke. She also blasted Sequeira for raising his voice during his "diatribe" and for "taking inappropriate personal potshots at me."
And then she told the court, "Maybe he should start acting like a lawyer instead of being a baby."
The exchange highlighted the often surreal nature of the trial, in which Polk, who is 48 and described by her son as delusional, stands accused of killing her psychotherapist husband, Felix Polk, 70, in their Orinda home in October 2002. Prosecutors say she killed during an acrimonious divorce; she argues she acted in self-defense during an abusive relationship.
Polk has been acting as her own attorney, and though she seemed to get off to a solid start during the first week of the trial, her plodding cross-examination of her youngest son -- who firmly believes his mother is guilty and is testifying for the prosecution coupled with frequent objections and requests or a mistrial have tried the patience of the prosecutor and the judge. Even the court reporter -- a person who, in any courtroom, is usually seen, not heard -- expressed frustration on Tuesday, complaining that Polk would often talk over the witness.
In court this morning, Polk said she's bound to make a few missteps because she's not a lawyer.
"The law is a bit of a puzzle," she said. But that doesn't mean that Sequeira should keep on interrupting her with his "gestures, grimaces, facial expressions and objections," she said.
"He is goading me," she argued.
Brady did not revoke Polk's pro per status -- the legal term for defending oneself. But the judge once again dressed down Polk, denouncing Polk's claim that she has been following the rules. And Brady once again warned Polk that she risks losing the jury's attention.
"The jury is getting forgotten in this equation," the judge said, adding that Polk should be more concerned about how the jurors and not the judge or prosecutor are reacting to the testimony.
"This pattern of behavior that we seem to be going through is alienating the jury," Brady said.
Polk on Tuesday wrapped up her questioning of her son Gabriel Polk, 19, who has told his mother from the stand that he believes she is guilty.
Sequeira called his second witness today, Dan Lawrence, who was chief of police in Orinda when the killing occurred. Lawrence, who is now Clayton police chief, testified for five minutes, noting that Felix Polk called him one week before he was killed and said he believed his wife was returning from Montana, where she lived at the time, to "blow his head off."
Polk spent more than hour questioning the police chief. Her cross-examination suggested that her defense would hinge, at least in part, on the belief that she didn't report the alleged abuse she endured at her husband's hands because she didn't trust the police and thought they would side with her husband.
"Isn't it true that women who are victims of domestic abuse back out, get scared, fail to appear and make bad witnesses?" Polk asked. Lawrence replied yes, that was possible. When Polk tried to introduce as evidence letters she wrote to police, Sequeira objected, saying the missives were hearsay.
Once the jury had been cleared from the room, Brady told Polk that she was free to testify as to what she wrote in the letters.
"I don't disagree that your state of mind is relevant, it's the method," she told the defendant.
As the trial wound down for the lunch break, Polk, in what has become almost standard procedure, once again sought a mistrial.
"It is denied," the judge said.
"I move for a replacement of this prosecutor," Polk said.
"Denied," the judge said.
Testimony resumed after lunch when Sequeira called to the stand the first sheriff's deputy to arrive at the crime scene. The deputy testified that he found Felix Polk in a pool house awash in blood, and testified that Susan Polk said, "Oh well, we were getting a divorce anyway" when told of her husband's death.
Polk countered during her cross examination that she actually said, "We were getting a divorce." And like Sequeira, Polk presented graphic crime scene photographs to the jury.
"I'm sorry to show such gruesome photos," she told jurors, "but it's become necessary."