MARTINEZ, Calif. — A California housewife whose outbursts and antics at her own murder trial drew national headlines is to be sentenced Friday for the 2002 stabbing death of her psychologist husband.

Susan Polk, 49, faces 16 years to life in prison for stabbing her 70-year-old husband Dr. Felix Polk to death with a paring knife in the poolside cabana of the couple's $1.85 million home in Orinda, Calif.

A jury convicted Polk of second-degree murder last June, saying they were unconvinced of Polk's claims that she stabbed her husband in self-defense and that he died of a heart attack during the struggle — not from his numerous stab wounds.

Polk, an English major in college with a flair for verbal jousting, but no legal training, was allowed to represent herself at trial after firing several attorneys.

The four-month-long murder trial was marked by Polk's increasingly petulant behavior toward the judge, her daily motions for a mistrial and her allegations of misconduct by the judge, the prosecutor, court personnel and even the jurors.

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"I just look forward to her being sent to prison where she belongs, and serving her time," Deputy District Attorney Paul Sequeira told CourtTVnews.com.

Polk's court-appointed attorneys Linda Fullerton and Paul Feuerwerker did not return calls for comment, but her former case manager, Valerie Harris, said she has confidence in Polk's new counsel.

"If Susan had been represented by Ms. Fullerton and Mr. Feuerwerker, she would have fared much better in her trial," Harris said. 

The defense attorneys are expected to argue Friday for a new trial, claiming judicial error and juror misconduct, among other grievances.

Judge Laurel Brady erred during voir dire, the defense has argued in court documents, when she gave Polk an extra peremptory challenge to dismiss a juror of her choosing as a compromise after the prosecutor could not recall why he dismissed a female juror. Polk accepted the offer at first, but later rejected it.

A juror also joked during a post-verdict press conference about being aware of comments in the press about budding romantic friendships on the panel, a topic of occasional speculation on CourtTVnews.com's jury room blog. Another juror, in answering whether he felt Polk should have been represented by an attorney, commented that he had been asked that question before.

Polk's attorneys are expected to argue Friday that the jurors' comments indicate they read media accounts of the case and discussed the trial with outsiders before reaching a verdict, which panelists are forbidden to do.

If Judge Brady denies the motion for a new trial, sentencing will go forward Friday with testimony from family and friends.

Jennifer Polk, Felix Polk's daughter from a previous marriage who was absent during trial, is expected to make a victim-impact statement and ask for the maximum sentence. The defendant's mother and brother are expected to ask the judge to show Polk leniency.

When Susan Polk was arrested in October 2002, she initially denied any knowledge of her husband's death. But as the case against her progressed and DNA evidence put her at the scene of the crime, she began to give media interviews from her jail cell, and admitted that she stabbed Felix that night, but claimed it was self-defense.