Jury deliberates in Susan Wright resentencing trial

HOUSTON Susan Wright could either walk out of the courtroom a free woman or learn that she will spend the rest of her life in prison. It all depends on what the jury decides.

Closing arguments were completed and the jury got the case just after 11:30am.

Judge Jim Wallace opened today by re-reading the charges against Susan Wright and once again explaining to jurors the question they need to focus on - Did Susan Wright act in 'sudden passion' when she killed her husband Jeffrey in 2003 by stabbing him nearly 200 times and then burying him in the backyard?

This is the second time Susan Wright is sitting across from a group of jurors who will decide her fate. These jurors have heard two weeks of gruesome testimony, but they never heard from Susan Wright herself after she chose not to testify.

Our legal experts say that could hurt her cause because it may make Susan Wright less believable. That's the crux of the state's closing argument today, that Susan Wright is a liar and that she planned to and wanted to live life without her husband. The defense revisited the issue of domestic abuse in their closing arguments, painting a picture of a wife struggling with an abusive husband and father.

"Whether it was that first stab or whether it was that 42nd stab or whether it was that 123rd stab, she made sure that he would never, ever get to speak," said prosecutor Connie Spence.

"She had black eyes, she had bruises, she had the usual things that come about with the darkest secret of our lives which is domestic abuse," said defense attorney John Munier. "She is screaming silently and neighbors might not hear."

Susan Wright appeared to be very still and extremely emotional today, stopping short of sobbing uncontrollably.

After deliberating for the afternoon, the jury was sent home for the night. They'll return to their task on Tuesday morning.

We'll be in the courtroom and will keep you posted so stay with Eyewitness News and abc13.com.