Kristen Gilbert Trial: 2000-01

When the arguments ended on February 22, 2001, Judge Ponsor, in his charge to the jury, did something quite significant. He told the jury that they need not limit themselves to a finding of first-degree murder—they could find Gilbert guilty of second-degree murder, which meant life imprisonment but no threat of execution. In any case, if they were to find her guilty of first-degree murder, the jury would have to sit on another session to decide whether she should be executed or imprisoned for life.

After 83 hours of deliberation during 12 days, the jury returned with their verdict on March 14, finding Gilbert guilty of first-degree murder in three cases, and second-degree murder in the other; she was also found guilty of assault with intent to kill in two of the three other cases. Because of the first-degree murder finding, under federal law the jury then had to go back into new sessions to determine the punishment. They returned with this decision on March 26, announcing that they could not reach a unanimous decision required for the death penalty. The judge then sentenced Gilbert to three consecutive terms for life imprisonment without any chance of parole. Inevitably, Gilbert's attorneys announced they would appeal the conviction, but it appeared that Kristen Gilbert was going to spend the rest of her life in prison.