SAN ANTONIO -- It took just five minutes for a jury to convict Alma Berlanga after watching her abuse an elderly woman for whom she was supposed to be caring.

Last-minute pleas from the defense did little to sway the jury.

"Open your minds for the next few minutes. Open your mind, and open your heart," said Berlanga's defense attorney, Lauro Bustamante, before the jury watched a video showing the abuse.

He said what he watched was a frustrated, poorly trained home health worker.

"It looks bad. The appearances are bad," said Bustamante.

"That is injury to an elderly and injury to a disabled person," said Alaina Altis, prosecutor.

Prosecutors said there was no excuse for kind of behavior.

"They say that society is judged by how it treats its weakest members," Altis said during the prosecution's final arguments.

The video arose after the family of Ofelia Escobar, suspecting abuse, secretly taped Berlanga slapping and force-feeding their 83-year-old mother, who was bedridden by Alzheimer's.

"This should never have happened to my mother in the first place," said Irma Escobar, the victim's daughter.

She said that cases like this bring much-needed attention to abuse.

"People need to know out there, there's so much abuse here in San Antonio -- for the children and the elderly," said Escobar.

The victim's son said his mother, who was already blind, is easily startled because of the abuse she endured.

Berlanga faces a punishment of two to 10 years in prison on a third-degree felony. A judge will likely determine her punishment next month.