Sacramento mother who killed son gets maximum sentence

Story here. Excerpt:

'A Sacramento mother convicted earlier this year of killing her 3-year-old son wanted a do-over, but a judge ruled Friday that once was enough.

No new trial for Carline Balbuena.

The judge's decision brought to a close – for now, anyway – an ordeal that began in November 2005 with the beating death of Keith Carl "K.C." Balbuena, a little boy with a winning smile and an agonizing, short life. The case graphically illustrated the vulnerability of a child in an abusive home, where both adults – a lovesick mother and violent boyfriend/roommate – had lied about his numerous injuries.

The murder also revealed the inability of Sacramento's Child Protective Services to decipher the web of lies and appropriately intervene, the subject of a Bee investigation.
...
In opposing a new trial, Deputy District Attorney Robin Shakely said Foster's decision not to pursue a domestic violence assessment was "entirely reasonable and the obvious choice of a highly competent, vigorous advocate." Shakely described Balbuena as a "conniving, controlling, manipulative mother who consistently put her own desires above her children's safety and needs."'