Judge Hears Jacks Trial Summations

The attorney for Banita Jacks told a D.C. Superior Court judge Monday that his client was guilty of child neglect and that living with the decomposing bodies of her four daughters was odd but that such behavior does not equate to murder.

In his nearly 90-minute closing argument, Peter Krauthamer, a member the District's Public Defender Service, said the government had failed to prove that Jacks killed her children.

"The behavior in that house defied logic, common sense and even that of a demented or delusional being. But it proves nothing," Krauthamer said. "There was neglect in this case. But there wasn't child abuse or cruelty."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Jackson argued that Jacks "systematically" isolated herself and her girls from relatives, schools, neighbors and friends as part of a plan to weaken them through starvation and then kill them. Jacks had hoped that the bodies would never be found, the prosecutor said.

"This is no mystery novel. You don't have to think it could be the butler or maid who did it," Jackson said. "She was present in that home during each of their deaths. She was the one who committed these crimes."

Jackson said the girls' deaths came after mistreatment and atrocities. "The murders were the climax, the final finale," she said.

On Jan. 9, 2008, federal marshals went to Jacks's rented two-story home in the 4200 block of Sixth Street SE to carry out an eviction. When they got inside, they found religious scribbling on the walls and the bodies of her four daughters -- Brittany Jacks, 16, Tatianna Jacks, 11, N'Kiah Fogle, 6, and Aja Fogle, 5 -- in two upstairs bedrooms. Jacks said the girls had died in their sleep, one by one.

Prosecutors said that the girls had been dead at least seven months, that Brittany had been fatally stabbed and that the other three had been strangled.

Jacks, 35, is charged with 12 counts, including premeditated first-degree murder and cruelty to children. Because of the ages of the victims, Jacks faces life in prison without parole.

Judge Frederick H. Weisberg said he could announce his verdict as early as Wednesday unless he needs more time to review the evidence. Jacks waived her right to a jury trial, and she declined to pursue an insanity defense.

Krauthamer spent most of his closing arguments Monday attacking the government's evidence. He mentioned the four District medical examiners who, because of the condition of the bodies, could only speculate on the causes of death. He discussed the forensic specialist and the anthropologist who disagreed on the timing of the deaths. And he reminded Weisberg that Sgt. James Lafranchise, a 21-year D.C. police veteran, recanted during the trial his report of seeing Brittany alive and well when he visited the house in April 2007.

"All you had was a battle of experts," Krauthamer said.