TUB-MOM SHOCKER

New York Post ^ | 1/07/05 | STEVEN LONG and LEONARD GREENE

[kattracks]

A Texas mom who drowned her five children in a bathtub will get a new trial after a state appeals court yesterday overturned her conviction because of false testimony from a key prosecution witness — about the TV show "Law & Order."

Andrea Yates, whose unspeakable crime sparked a national debate on mental illness and the death penalty, is likely to stay in a state prison's mental-health unit until the new trial, said lawyers close to the case.

The stunning reversal hinged on testimony from a noted psychiatrist who told a jury in 2002 that Yates might have gotten the idea for both the murders and her insanity plea from an episode of "Law & Order."

Dr. Park Dietz said Yates was not criminally insane and knew right from wrong, testifying that in the weeks before the crime, she might have seen an episode of the show in which a woman was acquitted by reason of insanity after drowning her children.

After jurors convicted Yates, they learned, along with attorneys, that the episode never existed.

[snip]

A wet and dazed Yates called police and showed them the bodies of her children: Noah, 7; John, 5; Paul, 3; Luke, 2; and 6-month-old Mary. She said she had drowned them in the bathtub, one by one.

[snip]

Last night on CNN's "Larry King Live," Yates' husband, Russell, who has filed for divorce but continues to visit her, said, "They've treated her like a serial killer.

"Drop the charges," he urged prosecutors. "Send her to a hospital, where she belongs."

[kattracks]

A wet and dazed Yates called police and showed them the bodies of her children: Noah, 7; John, 5; Paul, 3; Luke, 2; and 6-month-old Mary. She said she had drowned them in the bathtub, one by one.

Which means that she knew she had done something wrong.

[Dick Vomer]

end times ping...

[justt bloomin]

Honestly! Who says violence on television affects its viewers!? I'd like to shoot anyone who does.

</sarcasm>

[tallhappy]

Arrest the husband as complicit.

[Bogey78O]

NYP has the best headlines.

[Hetty_Fauxvert]

I don't care if this nutcase ends up in a mental ward or in a prison mental ward, so long as she never ever EVER comes out again! Anyone who can get that divorced from reality (and apparently hide it reasonably well) has got to be regarded forever after as a threat to herself and others.

That psychiatrist ought to be strung up by his thumbs, however. What was he thinkin'? "I'll just make really sure she's convicted by quoting this fictitious television episode"? Good grief ....

And the husband ought to be ostracized, if not criminally complicit. He had to have seen her cracking.

[SpyGuy]

Yates' husband, Russell, said, "They've treated her like a serial killer."

Gee, imagine that!

[foolscap]

And the husband ought to be ostracized, if not criminally complicit. He had to have seen her cracking

Actually I'm surprised the husband has not remarried yet and started producing babies again. That guy gives me the creeps.

[jazzlite]

So much of the tragedy effecting children has to do with family members who suspect something is grossly wrong but do not have definite proof of it. Some also fear that an abusive parent may turn violent towards the child if turned in. Physicians and medical people need to turn a blind eye to socioeconomic status, church membership, job level and everything else when children seem to be in a terrible situation such as being left with a psychotic parent, like Ms Yates. Why did that psychiatrist not tell that father to get those children out of her care? Instead, was she not trying to home school them, which is an incredible task for the healthiest of parents? I do think the "normal" parent should suffer some kind of consequence in a situation like this. Neglecting to notice what is effecting the wellbeing of children is a crime.

[Elsie]

Nothing to see here -

Merely are VERY late term set of abortions....

Move on..........

[hershey]

The human mind is complicated. Yes, Mrs. Yates knew right from wrong, and her crime was and remains unspeakable, but depression wreaks havoc whether incrimentally, or all at once. Mrs. Yates has to live with what she did, as does her husband...who should look into his soul and wonder what his role was in all this.

[zoobee]

Can't we just arrest him for being so creepy?

[maggief]

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0501/06/lkl.01.html

... KING: Thank you, Rusty. Happy New Year.

YATES: Thank you.

KING: Congratulations. Some small bit of redemption today.

YATES: Good for Andrea, yes.

(snip)

[beckysueb]

I have been watching this on tv and had to turn it off. It just sickens me the sympathy the media has for this murerer! Talking about her like she is a victim. I want to scream at them, what about those innocent children she killed in cold blood! She chased them down while they begged for their lives. Surely their pitiful cries penetrated her prozac induced mind!

[TexasCajun]

Lord help anyone in this Texas District Attorney sights!

Why did the prosecution believe they needed to "Cheat & Lie" about some imaginary TV program where a woman supposedly drowns her kids and pleas insanity!

The prosecution referenced this Perjured Testimony numerous times in an effort to sway jurors! Whether the jurors took this testimony into consideration is irrelevant! The DA presented false and misleading information to the jury!

I'd hope my lawyer would demand a new trial!

This Ambition & ethically challenged District Attorney has cost the taxpayers millions of dollars by padding his case with perjured testimony from a paid 'expert'!

I saw this asshole "expert witness" this morning trying to make excused about why he lied on the stand for the prosecution! "They told me about the episode" he said, "No, I didn't confirm the information" Andrea deserves to be where she is, I'm upset with the conduct of prosecution!

[SalukiLawyer]

You don't understand. The prosecutor representes the government. The government is all about justice. How the government obtains that justice is none of your concern citizen. Or do you approve the murder of children?

(Since I am informed that irony and sarcasm do not translate over the internet, I feel constrained to point out that I am not really accusing you of approving the murder of children, but am merely trying to make a point about overreaching prosecutors who are willing to skate on ethically thin ice when not even necessary to secure a conviction.)