The D.C. Superior Court judge convicted Jacks on 11 of the 12 counts she faced: four counts of felony murder, four of cruelty to children, and three of first-degree premeditated murder in the deaths of her three youngest girls, Tatianna Jacks, 11, N'Kiah Fogle, 6, and Aja Fogle, 5.

The judge acquitted Jacks only of premeditated murder in the killing of her oldest daughter, Brittany, who was 16.

Over the course of two hours, Weisberg drew heavily on the evidence given by medical examiners and forensic experts, noting that their findings “were consistent that all four deaths were homicide."

But in Brittany's case, on the matter of premeditation, Weisberg cited the difficulty in determining the cause of death, saying it remained unclear whether Brittany was stabbed by Jacks or whether she had stabbed herself. Given the extent to which Jacks "tortured [Brittany] emotionally and physically,” he said, she could have committed suicide.

Weisberg said Jacks had proved herself conscious of guilt, in both word and conduct: She intentionally obstructed law enforcement officials when they came to her house and discovered the bodies in January of last year. She intentionally created the impression that the house had been abandoned; she stopped using the front door and allowed the mail to pile up.

Jacks sat expressionless as the verdict was delivered. In fact, it was Weisberg who sat with his head in his hands as the crowd filed out of the courtroom. Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah Sines described the case as “very sad.”

Defense attorney Peter Krauthamer reiterated that he had not pursued an insanity defense at Jacks's insistence, but declined to comment on why he decided to make a last-minute appeal on the insanity issue yesterday.

"I feel bad for Miss Jacks," he said. "She is looking at life in jail.”

Krauthamer said he plans to appeal.

Sentencing has been set for Oct. 16.

Weisberg convicted Jacks on four counts of felony murder in the girls' deaths. Weisberg also found Jacks guilty of first-degree premeditated murder in the deaths of the three youngest girls but acquitted her on the premeditated murder of her oldest daughter. She also was found guilty on lesser charges, including child cruelty.

No word yet on what happened with yesterday's last-minute insanity appeal. More forthcoming.

The judge rejected Krauthamer’s claim that there was no evidence to support the twelve charges against Jacks, who is accused of killing her four daughters. The charges include premeditated first-degree murder and cruelty to children.

Krauthamer spent Friday afternoon working to discredit State Prosecutor Deborah Sines’ forensic evidence. It was his last chance; closing arguments in the trial will be Monday.

For most of the two-and-a-half hour court session Krauthamer did his best to discredit the prosecution’s last witness. He grilled forensic anthropologist Dr. William Rodriguez, doing his best to make Rodriguez admit that there was no way to confirm what appeared to be strangulation and stab wounds on the children’s bodies.

Krauthamer used passages from medical textbooks Rodiguez had co-authored to suggest that the marks around the necks of the three younger children, which the prosecution claimed were impressions left by whatever was used to strangle them, could also have been left by their t-shirts after they were already dead. Bodies expand as they decompose, Krauthamer noted, and t-shirts do not.

The defense attorney also claimed there was no proof that the punctures found in 16-year-old Brittany Jacks’ abdomen were what killed her. Rodriguez, pressed by Krauthamer, said the punctures were likely stab wounds, but that he could “not say that they were the absolute cause of death.”

After the prosecution’s final witness left the stand, Krauthamer called his own less than impressive witnesses. First, he had forensic examiner Herald A. Deadman cast doubt on whether the ligatures presented by the prosecution had been used to strangle the three youngest children.

Next, Krauthamer did his best to guide Public Defenders Service Staff Investigator Timothy Ruck into saying that, when he examined the Jacks’ house back in January 2008, the skylight over young Brittney Jacks’ body was un-shuttered, allowing sunshine to stream in and accelerate the decomposition. But Ruck failed to follow the script.

At first he said he thought it had been, but then—under Sines’ cross-examination—he acknowledged he couldn't be sure because it was a long time ago.

Worse, in a telltale blunder that threatened to overshadow his testimony, defense witness Ruck said he’d gone to Jacks’ house in 2008 “to examine the scene of the crime”—a somewhat unfortunate remark, given the defense’s claim that the four children had died in their sleep.