Prosecutors 'Seriously Considering' Case Against Russell Yates (Negligent Homicide)

ABC News ^ | March 16, 2002 SGT | Elenn Davis and Mike von Fremd

[codebreaker]

Prosecutors will weigh a number of factors that may lead them to prosecute Andrea Yates husband Russell for either child endangerment or negligent homicide. ABC News has learned.

No decision has been made, but it is being seriously considered, sources said. Prosecutors would charge Russell Yates if an when the evidence warrants, but do not have the evidence now, sources said.

Andrea Yates 37, was convicted Tuesday of two capital murder charges filed in the killings of her children last June.

[codebreaker]

I had a feeling this was coming on..

[Howlin]

Bump.

[nicmarlo]

prosecute Andrea Yates husband Russell for either child endangerment or negligent homicide

In this instant case, I would have to agree that Rusty should be looked at as partly culpable to his children being harmed by their mother....no, not that he did it or was, in the legal terms, "an accomplice." But he was aware of long-existing mental and emotional problems, had also been advised that his wife should have no more children, and why. I also believe her psychiatrist should be looked at....why did he decide to take her off her meds, so shortly after she was released from the hospital, yet again. Her treatment makes no sense. She should have been on meds for years, not months, after she got out of the hospital this last time......it's quite obvious, even to a layman, that she had substantial psychological problems that would not end within a short period of time....I question the doctor's treatment very strongly.

[yikes]

I had a feeling this was coming on..

Based on his spraying of potential targets yesterday at the press conference? He cast his net pretty wide. More humility would have been in order. But he learned his lessons well from the Slicksters.

[codebreaker]

After Andrea was off the meds, that is where Russell should have stepped in.

[spectre]

Didn't he say in his press conference yesterday, that HE KNEW Andrea wasn't on her meds for at least two weeks prior to the drowings of her children? Didn't he say that he had been warned she could become "psychotic" if she didn't take her meds.

So it isn't hard, here folks. He was AWARE she wasn't on her medication, and he knew there were going to be episodes because of it. Still, knowing this, he left HIS children in her care. Unbelieveable.

He's culpable.

sw

[codebreaker]

You got it, Russell was at least a negligent unwilling accompilce.

[Zviadist]

I had a feeling this was coming on..

What this really is, contrary to what many will say on this thread, is an attack on traditional lifestyles. The liberal elite and many misguided others cannot stand people like these, who make do on one income, who teach their kids at home instead of State Indoctrination Centers, who believe that children are a gift from God, not an inconvenience to be killed without hesitation. These people love the fact that one of the traditionalists had this terrible situation happen to them, as it is being used to attack all of us who live life in a more traditional way. Conservatives who scoff at these traditionalists should be put on warning: you are next.

If these people were queers or members of the pagan elite, with their fancy cars, two incomes, kids in daycare and public schools, the media elites would be singing a completely different tune. But too many people, even here, are simply sheep. They react exactly how the liberal, anti-family elite want them to react. That is the source behind the desire to put this man in prison.

[Registered]

Makes one wonder what should happen to the van Dams...

[cactusSharp]

you people kill me....opinions out the wazooo...so let me ask this of you brainiacs.....name the 3 drugs she was taking and their results if stopped and what does sugar do to the mix? when you all can ACCURATELY answer,you will all be humbled as to what REALLY HAPPENED.....I hold my head in shame as to you all.....

[codebreaker]

That may be true, but Russell KNEW from experience what Andrea was capable of without the medication.

So we have five dead kids because of his negligence.

[mombonn]

I had a feeling this was coming on..

It can't happen soon enough, imho. Maybe it will slow down his search for a new wife, his lawsuit against the world, and any tv and book deals.

He belongs in prison.

[spectre]

It was "Russell" who offered the excuse for the killings..."she was off her meds, the doctors warned me"...

sw

[homeschool mama]

ping

[Brytani]

Two days before the murder, Russel Yates took his wife back to the doctor and requested she be put back on her medication. The doctor denied the request saying Andrea showed no signs of psychosis. He also had his mother coming in to help out with the kids. I'm not saying this guy isn't a pinhead and an idiot but he isn't as bad as people want to make him out to be. Fact is, Andrea Yates killed her kids without help from anyone else. She should have been put to death for it but instead she'll spend life in prison. Her doctor? IMO, needs to be investigated. Either Andrea's defense was a complete lie (which I tend to believe) or else her doctor should not be practicing for not seeing her in the psychosis that contributed to her killing 5 children.

[GB]

Oh give me a stinking break! This is not about politics or lifestyles, it's about five dead kids and someone who should've been paying more attention or, when you got right down to it, kept his pants zipped. Russell Yates is not directly responsible for the events that happened on that day last June, his wife was and she's suffering the consequences. However, I think he does bear some responsibility for his wife's mental state and for choosing to bring more and more kids into the world when he knew of that mental state and for not asking questions of or challenging the doctors who took his wife off the meds and for leaving those kids with her unprotected when he knew of her mental state. I'm being consistent here, I've always said if there was some way to prosecute him it should be done. I'm not holding my hopes out, though. And don't bring politics into this, it sullies it. I don't care if Russell Yates was a card-carrying member of the Christian Coalition, the Conservative Caucus, ACU or YAF, subscribes to Human Events, the Washington Times and the National Review or (perish the thought) was a Freeper ... or if he was the complete polar opposite on the liberal side. I'd still feel the same way. It's not about politics, it's about five dead kids and a series of cluster-you-know-whats that he had some culpability in that set up what happened last June.

[Marty]

I do not see this as an attack on the one income family, or anything like that. It's simply that Rusty Yates knew that there was something not right with his wife and left their children alone with her. She'd attempted suicide twice in the past, had mental problems in the past, and apparently was in the midst of having mental problems. Had he dumped them in the middle of a busy freeway, he couldn't have been more culpable. She knew what she was doing when she killed them--and he knew that he was leaving them in the care of a woman who was apparently mentally ill. He allowed innocent children to stay in what was clearly an unhealthy environment. For that, he should be prosecuted.

As for blaming the medical profession--the man put his own wife at risk--aside from the children--because he continued to have children with her. He should have had a vasectomy and thanked God for what the child he'd fathered.

[NittanyLion]

These people love the fact that one of the traditionalists had this terrible situation happen to them, as it is being used to attack all of us who live life in a more traditional way.

Perhaps this is a small point, but nothing happened to the Yates'. They alone are responsible for the terrible situation, regardless of lifestyle. Their family life should have no bearing on this situation.

[Balding_Eagle]

Yep, this was inevitable. And all those folk who said Andrea wasn't responsible are going to cry for the death penalty against Russell.

[rond]

I don't see it as an attack on any "traditional lifestyle." Mr. Yates knew his wife was mentally ill; knew his wife was off her meds; knew his wife was at least a danger to herself, if not their children -- and he seemingly chose to ignore or belittle the problem.

Now his children are dead and his wife is in prison, probably for the rest of her life.

And I couldn't care less about the religious beliefs of the Yates family, or whether the parents are liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat. What she did is repulsive. What he did -- and didn't do -- is also sickening.

You say the media would sing a different tune if Mr. and Mrs. Yates were pagan lovers, or "queers," as you so charmingly put it. Turn it around: Wouldn't you be demanding the execution of both parents in this case, had they been part of the "pagan elite," or gay? Wouldn't you be "singing a different tune"?