Posted on 06/28/2006 12:38:46 PM PDT by presidio9
Seven-year-old Noah Yates struggled so hard while his mother was drowning him in the bathtub that his small fists remained stiff and over his head even several hours later, the medical examiner testified Wednesday.
Testifying on the third day of Andrea Yates' murder trial, Dr. Luis A. Sanchez said Noah, the oldest of Yates' five children drowned that day in 2001, had extensive rigor mortis because of intense movements indicating a struggle just before death.
Noah also had deep bruises consistent with someone holding him down, as did 6-month-old Mary and 5-year-old John, Sanchez testified.
Sanchez also said that based on their brain weights, which were significantly heavier than normal for children their ages, they had been held under water for minutes rather than seconds. The 9 inches of water was murky from the youngsters' bodily secretions, Sanchez said.
"It was a slow death; it was not quick," Sanchez, the Harris County medical examiner, told jurors.
Yates, who turns 42 on Sunday, again has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. The defense says she suffered from severe postpartum psychosis and did not know that drowning the youngsters was wrong.
Yates is being tried only in the deaths of Mary, John and Noah, a common practice in cases of multiple slayings. Ruling in favor of the defense, state District Judge Belinda Hill did not allow prosecutors to show autopsy photos of 2-year-old Luke or 3-year-old Paul or present evidence about their injuries.
Prosecutors have said they will rest their case after Sanchez testifies. He is the 12th witness for the state, which is retrying Yates after an appeals court overturned her 2002 conviction last year because of erroneous testimony.
Prosecutors said that during the trial's rebuttal phase, after the defense presents its case, they will call Dr. Park Dietz, the psychiatrist whose testimony inadvertently caused Yates' conviction to be overturned.
Dietz, also a consultant to the "Law & Order" television series, told jurors in Yates' first trial that one episode depicting a woman who drowned her kids in a bathtub and was acquitted by reason of insanity aired before the Yates children died.
No such episode existed, attorneys learned after Yates was convicted but before jurors sentenced her to life in prison.
If convicted, Yates will be sentenced to life in prison because prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty. After the first jury rejected death, prosecutors could not seek execution again because they did not find any new evidence.
Hey linda. No, I don't have voices [unless you count Rush!] Actually, I come from a long line of Liberals and I thought I was one until one day I heard someone call Rush about it and he asked her some questions and all her answers were like mine. Saved by Rush! It was kewl!
Cruise, not you.
Which is quite bizarre if you ask me. Along with the decision to only charge her with 3 deaths. Strange.
For those of you who did not live in houston or did not hear this tidbit, listen.
I heard about a woman I belive in dallas that had killed her children and she claimed the insanity plea ans she daid that she killed her children becasue Satan told her to do it. Andrea on the other hand, claimed that God told her to do it. I am sorry but that is crap. I agree with thr rest of you guys, this stinks to high heaven ans they know it.
You mean, like he said he was going to when he was making the rounds of the talk shows?
Dead is dead and the sooner in her case the better. Although I like your idea.
I don't know how different men might react in this situation, but I just kinda thought if I were a man I might want to keep to myself for awhile, sort things out. Just a guess. I'm a girl so I don't know how a man might feel.
Those five innocent children didn't have the benefit of a trial before they were sentenced to death and actually put to death. That woman deserves no less than the death penalty herself.
I didn't know that! That's awful! If a man did something like this, the inmates would have killed him by now, just like Jeffrey Dahmer.
The feminazis swayed the prosector's office? Who knows.
You're scary! I was just thinking, what if there had never been all the touchy-feely pscyhobabble that lead to people getting out of prison by way of 'insanity?' Maybe Olde England had it right - got a nutjob? Tie 'em to a tree. All we've done is succeed in making excuses for bad behavior, when you come right down to it!
It only took 21 posts for someone to blame the man.
If a man had done this to his children, would work at inventing ways of blaming her? The only anyone would be talking about is which tree to hang him from.
Whenever a woman suffers even the tiniest travail, the first thing she does is look for man to blame.
A vagina is a get-out-of-jail-free card.
From what I heard he was a controlling type that while knowing she was very depressed made her stay at home with all those kids and homeschool. I met someone that worked in the store where they bought their homeschool supplies. She said that Andrea Yates never said a word around her husband when they visited the store. She was zombielike.
No matter, the best thing to do might be to needle Yates and be done with her.
Another local area babe that killed someone was Clara Harris. Her hubby David wasn't a nice guy and might have thought twice about parading around with his babes like he did. They ought to cut Clara loose so she can be with her kids. She's no danger to anyone. Just maybe not let her drive...
In Texas at that. If it had been a man he'd be a memory by now. Time to put this out of its' misery.
Time for you two to meet. So, being a babe is a get out of jail free card? Really?
Ping to post 53! I don't understand one thing though: if she was so zombielike, why didn't she call for help? Her parents? A sibling? Another doctor? Her minister? Was she getting even with the husband?
Actually, I think Clara would be okay just as long as it's not a Mercedes... ;o)
The guy was probably still in shock. It's the same ole double standard when it comes to female murderers or rapists. You don't see sympathy for OJ or Scott Peterson and rightfully so. But let a woman kill her kids and the Texas justice system turns into the Oprah audience. What about the woman in Texas who cut off her sons arms and watched him bleed out has the state of Texas killed her yet?
Hey, he said there is no such thing as a chemical imbalance Yeah! So I guess my Grandmothers diabetes is all in her mind! All she needs is excercise and vitamins! YEAH!
I too cannot finish the article. It literally make me ill and it depresses me.
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