| Crime / Punishment
Andrea
Yates
by Bill Bickel Dateline:
February 18, 2002
On June 20, 2001, 36-year-old Andrea Yates, a Texas mother of five, methodically drowned all of her children and then phoned the police. Yates, whose children ranged in age from 6 months to 7 years, had been suffering from post-partum depression since the birth of her 2-year-old, had been on medication, and Child Protection Services -- who investigated the family after Andrea Yates's suicide attempt two years ago -- claimed they had no reason to believe the children were not being properly cared for. On July 30, the grand jury handed up two indictments: One for the drownings of Yates's two oldest sons, Noah and John (a capital offense under the "multiple murders" rule), and one for the murder of her 6-month-old daughter Mary (a capital offense under the "child under 6 years of age" rule). The prosecution did not seek indictments for the murders of her 3-year-old and 2-year-old. The prosecution will be seeking the death penalty, though this demand will likely be dropped if Yates "accepts responsibility". She's pleading not guilty by reason of insanity. In early December, at a pretrial hearing, the defense lost a number of important arguments, including an objection to the prosecutor's seeking the death penalty, a motion to suppress Yates's statement to the police when they came to her home, and an objection to Texas law that orders jurors not to be informed that a "not guilty by reason of insanity" decision could still keep Yates in state custody for life. The trial began February 18, 2002. She was found guilty of two counts of capital murder on March 12, 2002, and sentenced to life in prison (with the possibility of parole after 40 years) on March 15, 2002 Pre-Trial Updates (June 20, 2001 through
February 16, 2002) are here.
Post-Trial Updates:
Prison officials will not comment publicly, but her lawyer says Yates, who seemed to have finally been recovering from her depression and mental illness, has "spiraled back into psychosis" and is now on suicide watch. Yates has granted book and movie rights to her story to her lawyer, as partial payment of her legal expenses Yate's attorneys will not request a new trial, but they might appeal her conviction. Yates's mother and brother want charges filed against Dr. Mohammad Saeed, Yates's psychiatrist, for not properly diagnosing and treating her psychosis Her attorneys are filing an appeal on the grounds that excluding jurors who are opposed to the death penalty leaves a more prosecution-biased jury pool. The problem is, this is standard practice in capital cases -- after all, a juror opposed to capital punishment will not vote to impose it regardless of the evidence -- so if this argument goes all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court (as the defense team seems to be anticipating), this could call into question the way all capital cases are argued. Yates officially entered the Texas prison system today, becoming one of 70 women in the state serving time for killing their children "I am not going to coddle her, I'm not going to hold her hand ... She needs to be strong, she needs to help herself" -Russell Yates, as told to Andrea's friend Deborah Holmes (who responded 'That's the point. She can't help herself. She is not able. She's not capable") Holmes appeared on Good Morning America this morning. "[Dr Mohammed Saeed is] a trained professional who's supposed to be able to recognize these kinds of things. I'm not. I'm just a guy" -Russell Yates, walking a fine line between claiming his wife was clearing insane, but he couldn't have been expected to know that On the Larry King Show last night, Russell Yates said he thought the judge was misreading the verdict when she announced that Andrea was guilty. Dateline: Jurors interviewed on NBC's Dateline last night said they believed Andrea Yates was mentally ill, but still able to tell right from wrong. Good Morning America, The Early Show and Today: On ABC's Good Morning America Monday, Andrea's family blamed Russell. On NBC's The Early Show and Today, Russell defended his actions and inactions, and suggested that he'll be suing the doctors who didn't treat Andrea adequately
The aftermath of the trial, from this week's Newsweek While Russell Yates was in New York appearing on the Today Show, blaming the medical establishment... and Andrea's family was presumably home watching themselves on Good Morning America blaming Russell... Andrea Yates stood virtually alone in a Houston courtroom while she was formally sentenced to life in prison. According to ABC News, prosecutors are considering child endangerment or negligent homicide charges against Russell Yates. Russell Yates: "Offended that she was even prosecuted" Recent About/Crime articles About/Crime special features
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