SAN DIEGO -- A motion for a new trial and possible sentencing is scheduled Oct. 23 for a woman convicted of poisoning her Marine husband so she could collect a $250,000 life insurance policy, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Cynthia Sommer, 33, was convicted Jan. 30 of first-degree murder, murder by poison and murder for financial gain in the Feb. 18, 2002, death of Sgt. Todd Sommer, 23, based at Miramar.

Deputy District Attorney Laura Gunn told Judge Peter Deddeh Tuesday that defense-requested DNA testing will be completed in about a month to determine if arsenic-laced human organs actually belonged to the victim.

Defense attorney Allen Bloom said earlier that he wasn't sure why DNA testing wasn't done early in the case to confirm the poisoned tissues belonged to Todd Sommer.

Bloom, who wasn't Sommer's attorney at trial, claims in his motion for a new trial that lab results in the case contain "holes" that call into question whether the decedent actually died from arsenic poisoning.

Deddeh said it was prudent to allow the defense to explore all issues before setting the date in two months to hear the new trial motion, and if that is denied, possible sentencing.

If Bloom's motion is granted, a new trial date could be set.

Sommer, a mother of four, faces life in prison without parole if the conviction stands.

Her husband's death was originally thought to be from natural causes, centering on a fluttering heart. But a test in 2003 for heavy metals revealed arsenic levels more than 1,000 times the normal level in his liver and 250 times above normal in his kidneys.

Bloom has maintained that even if Todd Sommer died of arsenic poisoning, the link to his client is "zero."

Prosecutors theorized that the defendant killed her husband -- possibly by giving him ant poison -- so she could collect his military life insurance payout.

The defense also claims that testimony regarding the defendant's sex life and other activities in the weeks after her husband's death was inadmissible.

According to trial testimony, Sommer paid $5,400 for breast implants, had sex with three male Marines and a woman, hosted loud parties at her home and participated in a wet T-shirt and thong contest in Tijuana.