Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Prosecutors 'Seriously Considering' Case Against Russell Yates (Negligent Homicide)
ABC News ^ | March 16, 2002 SGT | Elenn Davis and Mike von Fremd

Posted on 03/16/2002 7:41:28 AM PST by 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.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Crime/Corruption; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: charges; father; homicide; yates
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 321-340341-360361-380381-395 next last
To: A. Pole
I don't know what all the solutions may be, but I think, in general, the insurance companies (and many average joe citizens in the population) do not think/believe mental illness is a "real" illness. They cannot measure the illness with "objective" tests. They cannot see blood or broken bones. They cannot test it scientifically, to verify that the illness is real....so they tend to doubt it is.....insurance company must re-think their stance on mental illness.....and assign higher dollar amounts of coverage for those illnesses.
361 posted on 03/17/2002 6:29:36 AM PST by nicmarlo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 359 | View Replies]

To: nicmarlo
I don't know what all the solutions may be, but I think, in general, the insurance companies (and many average joe citizens in the population) do not think/believe mental illness is a "real" illness.

The objective of the insurance companies is to maximise profit for the shareholders. Mentally sick are not profitable especially when they live under the bridge. State should take the responsibility for paying.

362 posted on 03/17/2002 6:42:26 AM PST by A. Pole
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 361 | View Replies]

To: A. Pole
The objective of the insurance companies is to maximise profit for the shareholders. Mentally sick are not profitable. . . .

You got that right. I think, besides the State helping when someone is diagnosed with mental illness, there should be research money spent to find out how to prevent some of the mental illnesses......this would be better for the person and society. Develop some kind of tests.....it would take a long time to do this, but in the end, it may help, all concerned.

363 posted on 03/17/2002 6:50:34 AM PST by nicmarlo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 362 | View Replies]

To: A. Pole
Judge asked if he is satisfied with the deal between prosecutor and defense, the defendant said "yes, your honor". And he was sentenced to the six months in jail. He looked quite happy and walked out escorted. The judge looked relieved, looked around the room and sighed.

Very sad how the system just throws these people away. You have to hope he will get the help he needs on the inside. That could go either way though. If they don't segregate him or put him in a special area with treatment, well I am sure you can imagine it will not do him any good.

364 posted on 03/17/2002 6:57:14 AM PST by BJungNan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 343 | View Replies]

To: Marty
In my book, that is conscious reasoning. She knew.

Remind me not to buy the book.

365 posted on 03/17/2002 7:01:01 AM PST by BJungNan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 356 | View Replies]

To: nicmarlo
"But once the controlled spouse gets to a certain point, it's almost impossible for her to seek help, any normal thinking becomes distorted and twisted as a result of being controlled.....it's insidious, just as is depression."

Yes, it is insidious; a slippery slope, so to speak. There is no question that Andrea suffered from Depression; but that usually renders one incapable of acting; either on your own behalf; or someone elses.

. . .and so it could not have been, however, IMHO, a 'depressed' Andrea that morning, wrestleing, chasing; overpowering, not one, but five children that horrible morning.

Believe she was acting our her hate and anger at her husband. She 'talked' to her therapist about her feelings when it came to suicide; but remained silent about her thoughts about killing her children.

Suicide is understandable/'acceptable and of course, it involved her life.

She managed to contain her thoughts of murdering her children. Her anger at her husband, her need for a revenge, I believe, overrode their consideration.

She was sick, but capable. . .coming back at her husband in a 'manipulative manner' that in the end, topped his sick efforts towards her.

A slippery slope, for sure. . .into hell. . .

366 posted on 03/17/2002 7:37:54 AM PST by cricket
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 360 | View Replies]

To: cricket
She managed to contain her thoughts of murdering her children. Her anger at her husband, her need for a revenge, I believe, overrode their consideration.

I don't understand this......I can't believe her motivations were toward revenge.....(I honestly don't know what her motivations were). All the literature I've read about depression, almost always it's suicide, not thoughts of murder......I was once depressed (severely), never thought of hurting my children. My depression got so bad, I thought, for months, of ways to end my life. First I would pray that God would take me while I slept. That didn't work. Then I began to weigh the "pros" and "cons" of doing something (i.e., put my car on a train track, or drove off the side of a mountain, or took pills, etc.), what were the chances of "success." What if I succeeded in 'this way,' or 'that way,' if my kids found me like that, which way would be 'better' . . . " (The thought of this now, looking back, is ridiculous.....there is, of course, no way that's "better."). But, at the time, this was my "rational" thought processes.

I kept thinking while depressed that my kids would be happier if I was gone....they deserved a "better" parent than me, and it would be better for them if I was gone than stay alive, making them miserable. Since I didn't want them to come upon my lifeless body, I began to think "I could wait until they're gone for the summer, out of state, then they wouldn't see....." These thoughts went through my mind, constantly.

I never told anyone about these thoughts until the day I went into the hospital. I called my family doc and told him had my kids not been home the night before, I would have overdosed on pills, but I didn't want them to get up in the a.m. and see me dead in bed. I never thought of murdering them, and I never felt revenge toward anything or anyone......I just felt everybody would truly be better off if I was gone (including me). What a hell that time was. As I posted earlier, after this hospitalization, my docs kept me on anti-depressants for two years. I took myself off, slowly. They didn't take me off, I wanted to stop taking the meds......I've been okay. I have asked close friends to "monitor" me....self-monitoring isn't always accurate....because of the insidiousness of depression.

367 posted on 03/17/2002 8:19:30 AM PST by nicmarlo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 366 | View Replies]

To: codebreaker
Priceless, Grandma wasn't at the house and it was known she wasn't going to be there at the time Andrea Yates planned to kill the children. So it's still not Yates fault, it's grandma's.
368 posted on 03/17/2002 9:11:29 AM PST by Brytani
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: cricket
Believe she was acting our her hate and anger at her husband. She 'talked' to her therapist about her feelings when it came to suicide; but remained silent about her thoughts about killing her children.

Between close relatives there are always present all types of positive and negative emotions. The difficulty is that in insane person the slight marginal negative (or positive) emotion can get magnified and distort the perception and behaviour.

That way you can have the real emotions, based to some extent on reality, but completely out of whack. Add to it the memory recording the delusion or distortions as facts and you have a mess. Basing the prosecution on the statements of the psychotic person even if at the moment of the testifying the person is "sane" is very treacherous. You need a GOOD and VERY SMART psychiatrist to get the decent feedback but for the purpose of the law this information is USELESS.

Also since the onset of the psychotic episode can be gradual and close relatives lack the distance and objective criticism even the whole family can get confused and drawn into a pathological mindset for a while. Before they realise what is going on, some tragedy can happen. Even experts can make mistakes in such matters.

As well you can get the medieval trials through ordeals and be better off. The problem with the democracy that it lowers the complex problems to the level of the average intelligence which is not sufficient.

369 posted on 03/17/2002 10:20:04 AM PST by A. Pole
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 366 | View Replies]

To: A. Pole
Not to you. If I had any sense that you were genuinely interested I might.......but I don't,
so I won't. Sorry, but I'm off this thread for good.
370 posted on 03/17/2002 11:09:41 AM PST by ohioWfan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 346 | View Replies]

To: ValerieUSA
Thanks for the links.

I saw the sister of the woman (who with her children) was killed by the husband who then killed himself... in Oregon.

SHE mentioned a "religious cult" down in California was interfering with their lives somehow. It was on KOIN in an interview (or KATU) on the TV late news.

The religious thing was NOT my take, it was just mentioned as a detail on the news.

371 posted on 03/17/2002 12:06:20 PM PST by Robert_Paulson2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 318 | View Replies]

To: grlfrnd
"What part of not doing your wife when she's stinky and got greasy hair did he not understand? And what kind of man would do his wife in that condition???"

LOL....sorry I shouldn't laugh, but you make a good point, one that I hadn't considered. Russell is obviously not quite right in the head himself.

372 posted on 03/17/2002 12:12:47 PM PST by monday
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 200 | View Replies]

To: ohioWfan
Not to you. If I had any sense that you were genuinely interested I might.......but I don't, so I won't. Sorry, but I'm off this thread for good.

He, he. Hit and run. You do not have to describe "to me" but to the others what are you solutions. People could use it. But I called your bluff it seems.

373 posted on 03/17/2002 12:26:45 PM PST by A. Pole
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 370 | View Replies]

To: the_doc
BTW, have you seen any Internet discussion of Andrea Yates's theology as potentially underlying her murder of her children? I haven't. But I can't help but remember that she said she was trying to save them from the devil. And notice that she killed them by baptizing them.

References have been made to some Preacher that the husband followed..thus the large family and homeschooling

Interesting thought on the 'baptizing"

374 posted on 03/17/2002 1:37:13 PM PST by RnMomof7
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 197 | View Replies]

To: Robert_Paulson2
Do you remember if it was the ICC?
375 posted on 03/17/2002 1:42:45 PM PST by marajade
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 371 | View Replies]

To: Diddle E. Squat
I believe the minister who conducted the funeral was from what I call a mainline church of christ. There is the ICC, International Churches of Christ, which was formed by Kip McKean in Boston and as a former member of the ICC I can assure there have been numerous suicides.
376 posted on 03/17/2002 1:46:29 PM PST by marajade
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 338 | View Replies]

To: Theodore R.
I think we've all said and typed things we later wanted to take back. I know I have(I can get a bit harsh in my replies).
377 posted on 03/17/2002 1:59:40 PM PST by Diddle E. Squat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 348 | View Replies]

To: marajade
I can assure you that Clear Lake C of C is mainstream(although all C of C congregations are technically independent). ICC is the Crossroads movement I spoke of earlier. The family background would suggest that they were not ICC, since they rarely went to church to fellowship. Isn't ICC the opposite, where their is deep involvement in each others personal lives, through accountability partners or groups carried out to the extreme by using guilt and manipulation techniques?
378 posted on 03/17/2002 2:07:16 PM PST by Diddle E. Squat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 376 | View Replies]

To: Robert_Paulson2
I THINK... emphasize THINK, it was a Jehovah's Witness sect of the main body... whose elders or leaders were going after their little kids for some reason.

I am pretty sure, it wasn't the Church of Christ.

FWIW.

379 posted on 03/17/2002 2:29:32 PM PST by Robert_Paulson2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 371 | View Replies]

To: nicmarlo
Those little ones were horrified beyond belief and their natural survival instincts, except for the infant, kicked in, but they were no match for that creature called mom. Since the 7 year old tried to escape from the house, I bet mom made sure the place was locked up tight too.

I just hope that mom doesn't harm anyone in prison in the next 40 years. If she was capable of killing her own, she is a danger to society, even a society of inmates and guards.

380 posted on 03/17/2002 2:34:09 PM PST by floriduh voter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 357 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 321-340341-360361-380381-395 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson