Andrea Yates: not guilty/insanity in re-trial

[Dr Mordrid]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/07/26/yates.trial.ap/index.html

She drowned all 5 of her kids in a bathtub. 1st trial she was convicted & sentenced to life instead of death because of post-partum psychosis. That conviction was overturned because a prosecution shrink misrepresented in his testimony.

Now she just gets committed with the possibility of release in a few years if she is cetified 'cured'.

Pardon me while I barf. She should never have the possibility of getting out on the whim of some judge.

Texas needs a "Guilty BUT insane" statute like Michigans. With it the perp goes bye-bye forever, but spend that time in an institution and not prison.

HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- Andrea Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity Wednesday in the bathtub drownings of her young children.

The 42-year-old will be committed to a state mental hospital, with periodic hearings before a judge to determine whether she should be released.

If convicted of murder, she would have faced life in prison.

Yates' attorneys never disputed that she drowned 6-month-old Mary, 2-year-old Luke, 3-year-old Paul, 5-year-old John and 7-year-old Noah in their Houston-area home in June 2001. But they said she suffered from severe postpartum psychosis and, in a delusional state, believed Satan was inside her and was trying to save them from hell.

Yates stared wide-eyed as the verdict was read. She then bowed her head and wept quietly.

[SitFlyer]

That is totally F'd up.....

[ZokesPro]

I see that the justice system works just as good in the U.S. as it does in Canada.

[Byock]

I love our legal system.

[The PIT]

Ach send her to this country. We'll put her out in the community becuase it's good for her and doesn't infringe her human rights. Applications for tagging will be turned down becuase of human rights. In a few days the Police will lose her and then all hell will let lose when she kills someone else.

[cjolley]

Sometimes justice is out of reach of us mortals.
Looking for revenge on someone who is crazy and does something immoral may feel good, but it isn't justice.

[Victorian]

Sometimes justice is out of reach of us mortals.
Looking for revenge on someone who is crazy and does something immoral may feel good, but it isn't justice.

[KvHagedorn]

There is no justice, so there may as well be expedient disposal for the greater good of the community. Bullet, head, end of problem.

[TnT]

I'm not gonna talk about the trial aspect, but thinking about 5 kids being drowned like that makes me sick to my stomach.

[Mehen]

Sometimes, just like in poker, you've got to put all 5 back and go for new ones...


Seriously though, that is some crazy sh*t, I wish nothing but bad things for her.

[Dr Mordrid]

Baby killers don't do well in either US jails or institutions.

[rylan]

What makes me sick is that the jury gave that verdict knowing that she could be released in a short period of time. There is also nothing to prevent her from having more kids and murdering them also.
Whether its a prison or an insane asylum, she should be locked up (at a mininum) for the rest or her life.

[Sasq]

at the risk of being the odd one out, *if* she really had a mental issue as stated.
*if* she could really be *cured* with zero and I mean absolute zero chance of this happening again.
I can see justification in releasing her.

that said, I suffer seasonal depression, have done for all of my life, and I will for the remainder of it.
being completly honest, I can not see a mental condition that resulted in her kiling those children ever being 110% cured. if it really was a mental condition, prison no, life in a place with pills morning noon and night, never to be released - yes.

[ZokesPro]

that said, I suffer seasonal depression, have done for all of my life, and I will for the remainder of it.

Do you feel depressed more often in the winter?

[Fluff]

That made me angry.