A woman convicted of killing her husband by tying him to their bed and stabbing him almost 200 times will get a new punishment phase because of ineffective assistance of counsel in her trial, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that Susan Wright deserves another opportunity to convince a jury that she deserves a lenient sentence.

Her attorney, Brian Wice, said jurors should have heard from certain witnesses, including Jeffrey Wright's former fiance and an expert on battered women syndrome.

If her attorneys can convince a new jury that Wright killed in “sudden passion” her punishment would be capped at 20 years.

If jurors decide against sudden passion, she could face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Wright's trial entered courthouse lore when then-prosecutor Kelly Siegler tied her co-counsel to a bed in the courtroom, climbed on him and acted out the stabbing.

Siegler's “overzealous” dramatics were unfair to Wright, her former attorney, Neal Davis, said.

“Because Kelly Siegler's antics devolved into some cheap made-for-TV movie, Susan was deprived of a fair trial. That's just the reality.”

Siegler, who left the Harris County District Attorney's office after a failed bid in the district attorney's race last year, stood by the conviction Wednesday.

“What exactly is overzealous about re-enacting the murder just as the defendant committed it with the very same weapon she used to slaughter Jeffrey in their bed?” Siegler wrote in response to questions from the Houston Chronicle. “The point of the re-enactment was to freeze in the minds of the jurors how cold-bloodedly, cruelly and methodically Susan Wright murdered the father of her babies.”

Wright was convicted of murder in March 2004 and sentenced to 25 years for killing Jeffrey Wright, 34, at the couple's northwest Harris County home Jan. 13, 2003. He suffered 193 stab wounds, according to medical examiners.

Siegler noted that the appellate court faulted Davis for ineffective assistance in the brief ruling. The panel did not discuss why it found him ineffective.

Davis said the reasons behind the reversal did not matter to him.

“I'm ecstatic,” Davis said. “I'm very happy she will have a new sentencing hearing and, hopefully, obtain some justice.”

A new punishment phase typically involves retrying most of the guilt-innocence evidence, as well as punishment phase evidence.

Davis said he hoped the district attorney's office would negotiate a plea agreement instead of going through a retrial.

The Harris County District Attorney's Office is reviewing the case to decide whether to re-try the punishment phase, said Roe Wilson, the chief of the office's post-conviction writs division.

“It's fair to say that, at this point, we anticipate a new punishment phase,” Wilson said. “But, ultimately, it's the district attorney's decision.”

brian.rogers@chron.com