Andrea Yates' Murder Conviction Overturned

[Lady Effingbroke]

~snip~

HOUSTON - Andrea Yates' murder conviction for drowning her children in the bathtub was overturned by an appeals court Thursday because a psychiatrist for the prosecution gave erroneous testimony that suggested the Texas mother got the idea from an episode of "Law & Order."

The ruling means Yates is entitled to a new trial, though prosecutors said they would try to have the conviction reinstated.


Yates, 40, is more than two years into a life sentence after a trial that stirred national debate over mothers who kill, postpartum depression and the legal definition of insanity.


The appeals court ruling turned on the testimony of Dr. Park Dietz, a forensic psychiatrist who consulted for "Law & Order" and helped prosecutors land a conviction in 2002. Dietz testified at the trial that shortly before Yates' crime occurred, "Law & Order" ran an episode about a woman who drowned her children and was found innocent by reason of insanity.

~snip~

MORE FROM YAHOO

[Maddy McCall]

1. I am glad it was overturned...her husband should be tried with her.

He is a despicable waste of human cells, if you ask me.

[Lady Effingbroke]

2. I agree...I grew up in the neighborhood where the Yates lived,

and still see Rusty Yates around town every now and then, so I guess this case holds a little more interest to me than most (in addition to the horrifying nature of the crime).

[joefree1]

5. Is he still a fundie and a xenophobe?

From Common Dreams:
Rusty Yates is Culpable, Too
Father's Bizarre, Domineering Actions Played a Role in Children's Deaths
by Barbara Robinson
Who is responsible for the death of Noah, John, Paul, Luke and Mary Yates? A jury unanimously voted Andrea Pia Kennedy Yates, a registered nurse, guilty of killing her children. Interviewed after the verdict, some of the jury members have said her husband should have been on trial instead of Andrea.

OK, so the demeanor of Russell (Rusty) Yates -- all-American, Eagle Scout -- didn't persuade me. I couldn't understand how a man could repeatedly impregnate a mentally ill wife and force or allow her to home-school their children. Yates exhibited a sense of arrogance as he explained why his children had to be home-schooled: "The social integration that the world claims is so essential is exactly what we need to protect our children from." So the Yates didn't integrate with their neighbors, who didn't agree with Rusty's beliefs.

edit ...
The jury, the prosecution and the defense agree that Andrea is severely mentally ill. Time magazine reported that she envisioned a state-sanctioned exorcism in which George W. Bush, the former governor and now president, would come to save her from the clutches of Satan. While under the influence of psychosis, a person may know right from wrong as concepts, but be utterly incapable of controlling his or her impulses or differentiating reality from delusions so vivid they are impossible to ignore.

edit ...
And while Andrea and Rusty Yates have gotten a lot of publicity, remember this: At least once every three days in America, a mother kills one or more of her children.

More ...
http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0322-02.htm

[Lady Effingbroke]

9. Yes, hes doesn't appear to have changed.

I don't know him, and have never said much more than "hello" to him, but he is occasionally on the local news, and appears unchanged by all that happened. I think he should have been tried along with Andrea, as he put tremendous pressure upon her to keep having children when she was already being treated for mental illness.

[Maraya1969]

3. Thank God

We actually look like we are becoming a compassionate country. I hope this trend continues.

[GOPNotForMe]

11. You said it. nt

[LisaL]

12. Yea, what a great trend- let all the nuts out on the street.

:eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[MichiganVote]

4. Prison isn't the answer for this woman. I thought her husband was a jerk

[yinkaafrica]

7. her husband is a monster

He seemed relieved to be rid of his family.

[MichiganVote]

8. That was my impression too

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. this is making the rounds on the L&O fan boards

and most are saying what is being said here!

What I wonder is this--will L&O now create a "Ripped from the headlines" episode based on the Yates tragedy? It would be slightly bizarre to have an expert being cross-examined by Jack McCoy saying that the defendant got the idea from a TV show.

[depakid]

10. This is pretty clearly perjury

"In his testimony, Dietz said he consulted for the popular NBC series, and added: "As a matter of fact, there was a show of a woman with postpartum depression who drowned her children in the bathtub and was found insane and it was aired shortly before the crime occurred."

Later, during closing arguments, a prosecutor referred to the Dietz testimony to suggest that Yates learned from the TV show a way to escape responsibility for her actions. The prosecutor told the jury: "She watches `Law & Order' regularly, she sees this program. There is a way out. She tells that to Dr. Dietz. A way out."

But it turned out that no such "Law & Order" episode existed.

The psychiatrist made a material false statement under oath (one that he clearly knew was germane to the prosecution's theory of the case) and he knew it was false (or if he didn't, he has some cognitive deficit- and should never have been allowed to testify in the first place).

In addition, depending on what the prosecutor knew, he may well have suborned the perjury- or engaged in prosecutorial misconduct sufficient to warrant discipline by the bar (at least in blue states).

[NYC]

14. Yes, it is.

Park Dietz should be prosecuted.

I do hope his career as a professional "testifier" has ended.

[WildClarySage]

13. I'm so tired of reading about her having had postpartum depression

Many women who suffer postpartum depression. It is a mild to moderate form of depression. Ms Yates did not have postpartum depression. She suffered postpartum psychosis, a much more serious and debilitating condition, and was doubtlessly unable to distinguish the relative moral value of her actions on that horrible day. That they have consistently misdiagnosed her in the MSM and confounded the issue for so many people ("I know lots of depressed people who don't kill their kids! She shoulda been fried!") has also tragically increased the stigma of people who do suffer depressive conditions.