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At the trial, Prosecutor Nubé spelled out the implications. Think of the risks, he told the three-judge court that sits in The Netherlands instead of a jury: "Risks in legacy cases, families struggling with the problem of a nasty old patient, problems of overcrowded hospitals, the problem of overpopulation." He was unhappy about the case, he admitted, "because I am convinced that Dr. Postma is a woman of integrity. But her act cannot be justified, however understandable it seems from a human standpoint." The prosecutor asked that Dr. Postma be convicted but sentenced only to a month's suspended sentence and two years on probation. When the case seemed to hinge on whether her mother's suffering had become "unbearable," Dr. Postma forthrightly stated, "No, it was not unbearable. Her physical suffering was serious, no more. But the mental suffering became unbearable." That "was most important to me. Now, after all these months, I am convinced I should have done it much earlier." Last week the court did find her guilty, but gave her only a one-week suspended sentence and a year's probation. Even that was considered a defeat by her supporters. Outside the courthouse, home-town friends each handed her a single flower in sympathy.