Andrea Yates

This is a court case taken from my home town in TX. A women 5 years ago drowned her 5 children in a bath tub. Youngest (infant) to oldest in her home. The oldest fought the hardest. She then called the police an was arrested for charges. Her plea was that the devil told her to kill her children. In belief that she was a bad mother she says she killed them in belief that she ouwld be sending them to heavan, and that she would be persecuted an put to death. Which is something she believed was right. In her first case she was charged with murder of 3 or the 5 children. The jury was based on believe willing to put her to death. Which in Tx is a law. If the juries are not willing to put her to death if the subject arrived then they could not be in the bench. They charged her guilty an was senteced to jail. Later on the case was over turned due to faulty evidence of a lie caught within a persin speaking FOR the defendant (Andrea). She went back to trial this year an tranfered to a Houston prison to serve out her time while the case was going on. This time the jury was not required to be for the death penalty inorder to prosecute her. In the end they claimed she was not guilty by reason of inssanity. Meaning she would be sent to a State hospital instead of prison. BAsed on the allgeged news that she did not know right from wrong at the time.
My question is, do you think they made the right choice?

I don't think they should have came to the conclusion she was not guilty by reason of insanity. She calles the cops, and that suggested that she knew what she was doing. Not only that is how can they convict a teenager of murder an put them in prison for years, but not a grown women that killed 5 of her children?Teenagers have a blury tale of what is right an wrong. I personally have dealt with ailment, and I dont go around killing people. What are your thoughs on this.

[Bunny]

I don't follow the news as often as I should so I don't know a lot about the Andrea Yates trial. I know that she was found not guilty today, by reason of insanity, but only because the television at work is on CNN pretty much all the time.

In defense of the whole "she called the cops, she knew what she was doing" issue, I'd say that has little-to-no basis on the woman's sanity. Whether or not she is insane is a moot point. However, she could have realized what she had done, understood that it was a bad thing, and then called the cops because of it. "Episodes" and the nature of all that.

I hear the mental hospital she is going to is pretty much like a prison anyway. And I doubt she will be getting out anytime soon.

Originally Posted by Bunny

I hear the mental hospital she is going to is pretty much like a prison anyway. And I doubt she will be getting out anytime soon.

Well that can be speculated in many different ways. See in A.S.H. (Austin State Hospital) there is a chance they could let her go in as short of a spance as a year. Her husband relpied to this as "Her children would not want her in Jail". When in many cases that is all the family wants. Justification. I am suprised that she does not feel that she did a bad enough thing to actually take responsibility for it. Instead taking the easy way out. I have been in A.S.H. an in no way is it like a prison at all. I do feel sorry for her that she has a disease, but it was said that at times she would not ake her meds. Now why would she not take her meds if she had been experiencing "the devil" the devil telling her to kill her children. This case has many different sides to it. Dr. reccomended her to take her meds, and she should have. in being unresposible makes her liable for her actions. Maybe not in direct route, but even if it were an accident she should still have feltt he full blow of it. Just like a drunk driver. Impaired at the wheel, running someone over. It was a choice to drink. Just like it was a choice for her to not take her meds fully aware of the damage it would case. Thus puting her children in danger.

[-Xu-]

If shes in for life, which she should be, a mental hospital is often worse than prison, one thing they make sure they don't commit suicide, and do things like forse feed the patients, so she couldn't just kill herself, she'd have to serve her full sentence.
I don't usually approve off stuff like that, but she had enough sanity left in her to call the cops, and maybe she has a mental problem, even if it's that severe, she should still be punished.

That is the thing though. The place they are sending her to is not bad at all. I should know I have been there. In prison she was not allowed to be by anyone, and he little or no contact with the outside world. In the hospital she will be cared after like a 5 year old child. True she cannot kill herself,but that was not her goal. Her goal was to be put in a fluffy hospital, so she could so called "get better", and then leave before she has to serve 5 years. She found a loop hole in the system.

[Tiffany]

I've found in cases like this that it's best not to speculate on when she's going to get out until she actually gets out. There's no guarantee that she's going to be out in a year, nor is there a guarantee that she'll be out in five. It could happen, but as much as it could happen, it also couldn't.

It was the same here with the Paul Bernardo/Karla Homolka trial. Not sure if people know that one but long story short, they kidnapped 2 girls on 2 separate occasions, held them as sex slaves and then killed them and dismemembered their remains and threw them into a river.

Karla got a "sweetheart" deal, where she would give testimony against her husband (Paul Bernardo) in exchange for a lesser prision sentance. She had her trial (closed, no press allowed) and then later on in Paul's trial it was revealed that she was a willing (dare I say, eager? They had video taped the entire thing, and it showed Karla right in the thick of it having a great time) participant in all of this. She claimed that she was a battered woman forced into everything. How sick was this woman? When Paul professed that he had a sexual interest in her younger sister, Karla (who worked in a vet's office) took some of the sedatives and drugged her sister, and gave her to her husband, who then raped her. Her sister ended up dying from chocking while being unconcious.

That woman was also a monster, like Yates. But she had only recieved 12 years in jail, even when she had participated in 2 brutal murders, plus aided in the attempt of 2 more rapes, plus the rape/death of her little sister. Everyone was screaming and saying that she could be out in 5 years as well, but to their credit, the prision system kept her for the full 12 years, denying every one of her parole attempts.

Of course, no two prision/hospital systems are alike, but at least with a metal institution, she cannot apply for parole. I hope they keep her in there, she doesn't deserve to see the light of day.

Originally Posted by -Xu-

but she had enough sanity left in her to call the cops

Very true, eh?

[Angantyr]

Originally Posted by Tiffany

Of course, no two prision/hospital systems are alike, but at least with a metal institution, she cannot apply for parole. I hope they keep her in there, she doesn't deserve to see the light of day.

I completely agree, differant countries have differant laws and run differantly.

I am not a physcologist so I couldn't tell whether she was insane or just incredibly stupid. Obviously something had convinced her to do such a thing, a wrong message or delusions. I don't know how somebody could bring themselves to do such a thing. But she should of been aware of what she was doing unless she was on some kind of drug at the time.

She deserves the full extent of her punishment, killing an innocent cause "the devil" told you to is bullshit. There is no excuse for that.

[Koda]

I truely believe that Andrea Yates should experience the same terrifying death that each of her children did. Just like Susan Smith should experience the horrific death she did to her children. To me, and JMO, the insanity plea was ridiculous. She stated that she had been planning the killings two months before they actually happened. But she had to wait for the right moment. Her doctors even instructed her husband and family that she was never to be left alone with her children. And that fateful morning, there was 1 1/2 hours between the time her husband left for work, and the time her mother-in-law was to arrive. She planned it, she carried it through, carefully placed each child on the bed, then called the police. Yes it is an insane crime for anyone to commit, but I don't think she was insane. Even in her televised interview, she was able to describe every event that took place. The jury messed up on this one, she should have received the death penalty! Just like Susan Smith should!!!