Texas Mom’s Murder Convictions Overturned
Andrea Yates’ capital murder convictions for drowning her children were overturned Thursday by an appeals court, which ruled that a prosecution witness’ erroneous testimony about a nonexistent TV episode could have been crucial.
Yates’ lawyers had argued at a hearing last month before a three-judge panel of the First Court of Appeals in Houston that psychiatrist Park Dietz was wrong when he mentioned an episode of the TV show “Law & Order” involving a woman found innocent by reason of insanity for drowning her children.
After jurors found Yates guilty, attorneys in the case and jurors learned no such episode existed.
“We conclude that there is a reasonable likelihood that Dr. Dietz’s false testimony could have affected the judgment of the jury,” the court ruled. “We further conclude that Dr. Dietz’s false testimony affected the substantial rights of appellant.”
Not knowing the intricacies of the law - does she get released until the re-trial? Do they keep her in jail?
Scary thought. I can’t imagine someone who admitted to the crime would be set free onto the general population? Surely they will keep her hospitalized until the re-trial?
This is one of those cases that just absolutely turned my stomach inside out. It’s always my fear that people like this will be freed based on misconduct by a juror or witness. Apparently, the witness in this case purjored himself - which is the cause for a mistrial.
Idiot.
As if there wasn’t already enough evidence to convict her - he had to go making up stories.
I...
10:57 pm on January 6th, 2005
Being in Houston, the local media is all over this story.
They had some expert attorney on TV this morning that said she will NEVER be free.
If she’s not in prison, then she’ll be in a psychiatric facility for the rest of her life. She’ll never be out on the street.
11:10 pm on January 6th, 2005
THAT is good to hear, DeAnne - - thanks for the update! I knew a fellow Texan would come through
(I’m not in TX anymore - but I was born there
12:18 am on January 7th, 2005
I was so upset by this and the fact this witness didn’t actually make sure he had all his facts straight before he took the stand. I know her attorney thinks the “lock-up” prison facility or wherever she’s at … at the moment … would be the best place for her.
12:44 am on January 7th, 2005
I normally practice apathy in the world of current events as I have enough drama in my life but this made me livid!
6:54 am on January 7th, 2005
I doubt they would release her, she needs to spend the rest of her life in ether a prison or a mental institution (and a secure one at that) If nothing else I think it would be in the interests of her own safety.
8:26 am on January 7th, 2005
We were told that John Hinkley would stay in a hospital for the rest of his life as well. But that man goes on unsupervised visits for the weekend. She can only be hospitalized for the duration of her illness, or until she is deemed well enough to be in society. If hospitalized and not imprisoned, she has a good chance of walking the streets again.
I still feel Rusty was let off the hook on this. If things were as bad as he testified, why did he keep impregnating her? Was she getting better? No. Did he try to alleviate the stress? No He allowed her to home school.
Who is speaking for those kids?
****sorry Lisa, but that just touched a nerve.
8:33 am on January 7th, 2005
This whole case has me furious! Women who do such things to their own children. Makes me want to do the same to them so they know what it is they have done. So that with their last dying breath they feel exactly how their child felt. The bitch.
9:21 am on January 7th, 2005
Don’t worry. She only kills children. She doesn’t kill anyone with the ability to fight back.
9:27 am on January 7th, 2005
Hospitilization ’til she is better, then prison for the rest of her life.
10:03 am on January 7th, 2005
RedFred- if only that were possible, but that is not how the law is written. It’s one or the other, not both.
10:11 am on January 7th, 2005
I apreciate that, If I had my way she would be hanging from a tree already
11:42 am on January 7th, 2005
To me, the bottomline is that her kids are dead. She did it. Does it REALLY matter whether there was a TV show or not?
4:52 pm on January 7th, 2005
Sniffle
What did Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) do during the time that President Bush was being certified?
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7:18 pm on January 7th, 2005
Yates Sentence Overturned
Yesterday, the 1st Court of Appeals in Houston released its opinion in Texas v. Yates. Unless you have been living under a rock for the last couple of years you know the factual background here. Believe it or not, those facts are completely immateria…
4:43 am on January 8th, 2005
I was blog-hopping in the UK yesterday, when I saw this case being mentioned by a few bloggers. I didn’t actually hear of this case as all until reading the blogs. But for it to be almost overthrown due to a claim that “I’m sure this is a repeat, this was in Law and Order” is absolutely barmey. Hope she gets life.
8:05 am on January 10th, 2005
Barmey…. :smile::smile::smile: Reminds me of home
9:25 pm on February 14th, 2005
What happened to humanity and compassion? I thought we lived in a “Christian nation.” Apparently we live in a vendictive and very uneducated nation. It is amazing that the drug makers can make billions selling drugs to battle mental illness, but the vast majority of us don’t acknowledge that it is a real disease. HMMM? I guess there is always room for one more pill in our lives. Andrea Yates suffered from psychosis. A very real mental disorder that caused her to experience delusions. In her delusional world, she had to kill her children in order to save them from Satan. She believed that her children had been infected as she was with Satan’s presense and her intention was to save her children and then be killed herself by Gov. Bush (She did not know that Bush was no longer gov. of Texas at that time.) Any one of us is in danger of suffering from mental illness at any time. It can be caused by a head injury or brain tumor, but usually it is passed on by your parents. How we treat the most vulnerable people in our society (the mentally/physically handicapped and the mentally ill) is a testement to our character as a society. If you are hateful and judgmental of those who are unable to function as well as you do, beware, for one day the tables will turn and it will be your day of judgement.
12:25 am on February 15th, 2005
I have no compassion for Andrea Yates. Whatever she was thinking in her delluded mind at the time will not change that. If I dig real deep inside - - my compassion lies with her children and her family. She, on the other hand, is where she belongs and let’s hope the woman never procreates ever again.
1:26 am on March 29th, 2005
All I can say to you people is, God help any of you should you have a mental illness. You should pray to God you don’t get judged by the likes of people like YOU !
Andrea has a disease that is no different then any other disease.
Show some compassion for christs sake !!!
3:44 pm on April 16th, 2005
Andrea Yates is hot…
4:09 pm on July 15th, 2005
Oh it is quite different than any other disease. Five people died because she refused treatment.
Compassion? Neat. So criminals are allowed a pass in the ol’ compassion department, but everyone else has to have no limit?
I think it’s compassionate to hang her now, and not make her live forever.
1:48 am on February 14th, 2006
Hello I was interesting to know more about the murder of Andrea Yates. I just want to know what is the childhood background of this Andrea Yates? Please answer me thank you>>>>>
Sincerly, yen
3:21 pm on May 9th, 2006
Andrea Yates murdered her children to keep them from going to hell. “These were their innocent years. God would take them up.” Which of her mental disorders taught her this theology? None of them! She learned it from Christian pastors. That is, all humans are born with an immortal soul living within a physical body. If your soul lives forever, it must live somewhere. Christians assign heaven as their eternal home, while condemning all nonbelievers to eternity in hell. The one exception is innocent children who have never knowingly sinned. These go immediately to heaven upon their death. Thus, Mrs. Yates murdered her innocent children and sent them to heaven.
Two elements are combined in these religious child sacrifices. When Mrs. Yates reached the depths of her depression, she did not seek the psychiatric help which had previously failed her. She resorted to her religious teachings. Great evangelists provide positive feedback by proclaiming that the children are presently with God in heaven for eternity. That is, she succeeded!
Eliminating either of these two elements will prevent these misguided murders. I cannot eliminate the psychiatric element, but my website debunks the immortal soul myth that caused Mrs. Yates and others to murder their innocent children. Twenty-four such murders are detailed on the Memorial Page of myth-one.com!
9:31 am on June 28th, 2006
I felt so sick after reading how these kids struggled for air I hope someone kills her even worse then what she did to her beautiful inocent children may the rest in peace
6:15 pm on July 26th, 2006
I felt so sick after reading how these kids struggled for air I hope someone kills her even worse then what she did to her beautiful inocent children may the rest in peace
Wow, I hope I never run into a vile waste of carbon like you karen!
6:31 pm on July 27th, 2006
Andrea is crazy, for sure. But Rusty the tyrant made here that way. I saw he was whining about the prosecutors in the first trial. He should shut the hell up because the blood of his children is on his hands. He should be sitting right next to Andrea in jail.
9:22 pm on September 19th, 2006
andrea yates is the poster child for the insanity defense. there is testimony from unbiased outside sources that everything about her as a parent was in the best interests of the children. she simply lost her mind and didn’t receive adequate treatment (read the facts) and her children died as the result. not all who become psychotic take the life of another, but sometimes it happens and that’s why powerful interventions must be in place in our society. i worked in a state psychiatric hospital for years and how sadly i remember the faces like andreas’, in chemical restraint, senses dulled and in a kind of hell none of us will ever fully comprehend. i think she needs to be where she can get treatment and never released, unless it’s back to prison. would that satisfy the bloodlust of folks on this site? this could have been your sister or daughter who did this. get real.
11:05 pm on September 26th, 2006
This is indeed a case that needs revisiting. Rusty should be held accountable along with Andrea. Unless he lived in a bubble, there is no way that he was not more aware of her mental state than to leave her along with those children. To say that a family member was coming over to give her help but was too late is not good enough. There were enough people aware of her condition to have sought intervention before this travesty took place.