Jul

26

Yates Found Insane - That’s News?

July 26, 2006 |

A mother kills her 5 children by drowning. Gets convicted the first time but the ruling is thrown out and now this is the result.

Andrea Yates, the suburban mother accused of drowning her five young children in a bathtub, was found not guilty Wednesday by reason of insanity.

Yates, 42, looked shocked as she heard the verdict, which came just three days after jurors began deliberating whether she was legally insane.

Today’s decision means Yates will be committed to a mental hospital for treatment. She will have periodic hearings before a judge to determine when she is sane enough to be released.

So what is the reason that she went from life to a mental institution?
The defence had argued that Yates suffered from severe postpartum psychosis and did not know that drowning the children was wrong.

The key was that there was false information in the testimony. What might that have been. Could it be what was mentioned in the news article?

In the first trial, Dietz had testified that the television series “Law and Order” had depicted a woman who drowned her children and was acquitted by reason of insanity. However, no such episode existed.

Lawyers were barred from mentioning this in the second trial.

Let me put it this way. Of course one must be “out of their right mind” to commit violent acts. Such as state could easily be termed ‘insane’… ie: “You must have been insane to do that!” But a person knows what they are doing (there are exceptions.. think I have seen a few). Someone may push the fact that killing their children is wrong out of there minds but that doesn’t alleve them from the responsibility that one must be ’self controlled’. Those who are unable to keep themselves from killing don’t deserve to be in society.

All I can say… “Women. Want to solve a problem? Have a baby and then settle any problems or old scores. Then blame it on the depression.” Hey… free advice. You get what you pay for.


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