SAN DIEGO — Cynthia Sommer, a woman convicted of poisoning her Marine husband with arsenic, sat nervously Tuesday morning, her stomach in knots, as she waited to hear whether a judge would sentence her to life in prison without parole or grant her a new trial.

That decision has been delayed yet again.

After two days of hearings, Judge Peter Deddeh announced Tuesday morning that he could not make a ruling until both sides were given the opportunity to question the defendant's former attorney about alleged mistakes he made at trial.

"The ineffective assistance of counsel issue really requires Mr. Udell come and talk to us about his representation and allow you to examine and cross-examine him," Deddeh told the attorneys.

Robert Udell, who has not been present at the appeals hearings but is still considered co-counsel, is expected to testify when the hearing resumes Nov. 30.

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Sommer's new attorney, Allan Bloom, argued over two days that the month-long murder trial had been marred by "fuzzy science," inadmissible "lifestyle evidence," potential juror misconduct, and "blunder after blunder" by Udell, making it impossible for Sommer to receive a fair trial.

"It's good news," Bloom said after court Tuesday, "because Judge Deddeh is clearly indicating that he's reviewing our claims, which are very strong."

Bloom told reporters that Sommer's stomach "turns over and over" each day she walks into court, hoping for a resolution to her case.

"It is common and understandable in a case like this to want to have a do-over with a new attorney," Deputy District Attorney Laura Gunn argued. "But there is not anything here that is new or rises to the level of a new trial being granted."

On Jan. 30, a panel of seven women and five men deliberated for about 12 hours over three days to find Sommer guilty of first-degree murder and the special allegations of administering poison and murder for the purpose of financial gain.

The guilty verdict drew national attention to a case that revealed one salacious detail after another about a young, handsome soldier killed by his pretty wife.

Prosecutor Gunn said that she was regularly approached in the courthouse hallways by people who wanted to discuss how they would have tried the case.

Judge Deddeh received numerous e-mails from people telling him how he ought to rule.

"They do not play any role in my deliberations," he said Monday, "and they are completely inappropriate."

Todd Sommer, a vibrant 23-year-old Marine, collapsed in his wife's arms on Feb. 18, 2002, at the Marine Corps Air Station home they shared with their infant son and her three children from a previous marriage.

His death was initially ruled cardiac arrhythmia and samples of his vital organs and tissues were retained for future testing, per Navy policy.

Sommer collected $250,000 in insurance benefits. She put about half into trust accounts for her children and spent $5,400 on breast implants, just two months after Todd's death, a decision that prosecutors presented at trial as an enduring symbol of her guilt, as she could not have afforded the surgery while Todd was alive.

More than a year after Todd's death, Army scientists found elevated levels of arsenic in his tissues: more than 1,000 times the normal level in his liver and 230 times the acceptable level in his kidneys.

Cynthia Sommer was arrested and charged with his murder in November 2005.

Prosecutors admitted they had no evidence linking Sommer to arsenic, but what they did have was a portrait of a widow who grieved like she was celebrating: Sommer partied until sunrise in the home they once shared, courting a string of new boyfriends.