Sons Pitted Against One Another at Mom's Murder Trial

Sept. 19, 2005 — -- The trial of a California woman accused of killing her husband, a prominent California psychologist whom she met as a 15-year-old patient, is set to begin today, and one of the couple's sons may take the stand against her.

After firing three attorneys, Susan Polk, 47, had planned to represent herself at her trial on first-degree murder in the 2002 stabbing death of 70 year-old psychologist Felix Polk. But as jury selection was to begin last month, Polk decided she wanted an attorney to argue her case and proceedings were postponed until today.

The case has been described as real-life drama straight out of the movies. It includes a controversial marriage between a revered therapist and his teenage former patient, allegations of long-term domestic abuse that led to caustic divorce proceedings, and an alleged murder. The case has divided the Polk family, pitting two of the couple's three sons against each other. One son will be testifying against their mother while another will be testifying on her behalf.

Polk says she acted in self-defense, fatally stabbing her husband during a heated argument on Oct. 13, 2002. At the time of the slaying, the Polks were going through a divorce and custody battle over their three sons -- Gabriel, Eli and Adam. Felix Polk had won a court order that gave him the house and custody of Gabriel, then 15. (Adam was away at college, while Eli was in juvenile detention for getting into a fistfight.)

Polk says she had planned on leaving their $2 million estate in Orinda, Calif., and moving to Montana. She says she returned to the estate to collect her belongings when she and her husband began arguing and he began to attack her with a knife.

"He came at me … and the next thing I knew he was stabbing at me with a knife," Polk told The Associated Press in an interview. "I kicked him as hard as I could in the groin.

"I stabbed him in the side with it [the knife], and he just wouldn't stop," Polk continued. "I kept saying 'Get off me.' He was biting at me. He was going to kill me."

Brothers Pitted Against Each Other

Prosecutors, however, believe Polk's slaying of her husband was premeditated. Felix Polk was stabbed 27 times, and Gabriel Polk found his father's wound-riddled body the next day.

The trial has divided the Polk sons. It is unclear where Adam stands, but Gabriel, now 18, has sided with the prosecution. He is expected to be a key witness and to corroborate prosecution claims that his mother admitted fantasizing about killing his father. Eli, now 20, has sided with his mother and is expected to testify on her behalf.

Polk's new attorney, Dan Horowitz, has said that he intends to argue that police coerced statements from Gabriel. Polk had been out of jail on $1.1 million bail, but prosecutors revoked her bail in April when they alleged she violated her agreement by repeatedly contacting Gabriel through e-mail.

Controversy Over Medical Records

To help bolster Polk's self-defense argument, Horowitz wants jurors to hear evidence that Felix Polk suffered from schizophrenia and was delusional, which he claims are in the psychiatrist's medical records. But under California law, medical records remain private even after a patient's death and the trial judge has appointed an attorney to represent Felix Polk's interests. Attorneys from both sides are scheduled to argue over the admissibility of the medical records on Sept. 28.

In a pretrial hearing, Contra Costa County Sheriff's Deputy Ken Hansen testified that Polk initially claimed she didn't know about the killing. When told her husband was dead, Polk, Hansen testified, said, "Oh well … We were getting a divorce anyway."

The coroner's report showed that Felix Polk suffered five stab wounds to his chest and stomach, along with defensive and blunt force injuries.

"The horrific nature of the … stabbing wounds … could indicate the perpetrator was in an altered mental state of rage," forensic psychologist Paul Good wrote. Good also concluded that Polk was "not grossly out of touch with reality," but that "her judgment and decision-making could be seriously undermined by a paranoid delusional state."

From Doctor-Patient Relationship to Marriage

The Polk marriage was controversial -- and tumultuous -- from the outset. Susan Polk met her future husband when she was his 15-year-old patient and he was her 42-year-old therapist. The two began an affair; he eventually left his wife and they married when she was 24 and he was 50.

But their marriage was not blissful and police were called several times to their home for domestic disturbances. Polk has claimed her husband was mentally and physically abusive to her during their 20-year marriage.

Despite her claims, some experts say jurors rarely have sympathy for domestic abuse self-defense claims.

"Except in extreme examples, abuse as an excuse defenses are rarely successful," said Cheryl Hanna, professor at Vermont Law School. "They rarely have sympathy for those kind of defense strategies."

Polk faces 25 years to life in prison if she is convicted of first-degree murder.