Christopher Porco

Six days after the defense's opening arguments, it rested its case. On August 9, 2006, both the prosecution and defense teams made their closing arguments. The burden of whether Chris was guilty or innocent thereafter lay with the jury who began deliberations two days later. It didn't take them long to reach a decision.

Christopher Porco

After only hours, the jury returned a verdict. It found Chris "guilty" for the murder of his father and attempted murder of his mother. Chris stood motionless as he listened to the judgment, showing no emotion, Szubielski reported. Chris' family and friends were visibly shocked and disappointe. Soon after the verdict was read, Chris was ushered from the courtroom in handcuffs to Albany County Jail to await sentencing. He faced up to 50 years in a maximum security prison.

Capital News 9 reported that Kindlon vowed to fight for an appeal, which he said would focus most likely on Joan's head-nod. Kindlon hoped that her testimony might be "a good basis for a reversal" because she was treated as a witness to the crime, although she had no memory whatsoever of the event. The appeal is expected to be filed during Chris' sentencing date, which has been set for December 12, 2006.