Post by SoulTrainOz on Jul 20, 2006 7:19:40 GMT -5
Clear Lake mom knew drowning her children was wrong, expert says
By PEGGY O'HARE and DALE LEZON, Houston Chronicle
Andrea Yates recently told a psychiatrist she understands why the drownings of her five children in 2001 prompted anger and outrage against her, according to a video segment viewed by jurors Monday.
During a 14-hour interview in May, Yates recalled for forensic psychiatrist Michael Welner - prosecutors' new mental health expert - how she felt on the day of her arrest when she heard a talk radio host threaten to put a bullet between her eyes.
Yates had fully expected to go to jail after killing her children, and she heard the venom directed at her over the airwaves as a Houston police officer drove her downtown in his squad car. But up until that moment, she told Welner, she had not considered that she might be executed for her crime.
"He was angry, and he wanted justice," Yates said during the videotaped interview at Rusk State Hospital. Asked if she understood why the talk show host was upset, Yates said, "Yes ... (because of) what had happened - five children."
That video segment was one of several viewed by jurors Monday during Yates' capital murder retrial as Welner explained why he believes the mother of five knew drowning her children in the bathtub of her Clear Lake home was wrong. Yates' lawyers have argued she should be found not guilty by reason of insanity because her mental illness kept her from knowing right from
wrong.
Welner is the second mental health expert that prosecutors have called to testify. His testimony was preceded by that of forensic psychiatrist Park Dietz, who also concluded Yates knew her actions were wrong.
Erroneous testimony
Yates, 42, is being retried for three of her children's deaths on June 20, 2001, because an appeals court threw out her capital murder conviction last year.
The appeals court's decision was based on Dietz's erroneous testimony during Yates' first trial four years ago, which suggested she may have derived the idea of drowning her children from the TV show Law & Order. The episode Dietz described - depicting a mother who was acquitted after drowning her children and pleading insanity - was later found not to exist.
If Yates is convicted again of capital murder, she will automatically be sentenced to life in prison, the only punishment option available since jurors rejected a death sentence during her first trial in 2002. If she is found not guilty by reason of insanity, she will be sent to a state mental hospital and will remain under the jurisdiction of the court, although the law does not allow jurors to be told that before they reach a verdict.
Welner, chairman of The Forensic Panel, a New York consulting outfit touting itself as the first peer-reviewed forensic expert practice in the country, was on the witness stand nearly all day explaining the conclusions outlined in his report to prosecutors. He has not yet undergone cross-examination by Yates' attorneys.
Yates chose not to share her homicidal thoughts with any of the people close to her, then called police so they would discover her children's bodies before her husband and mother-in-law did, Welner said. And she was unwilling to face her husband when he angrily confronted her after the drownings, he added.
Calculated organization
Yates also ignored or declined multiple treatment opportunities and medical advice before the drownings and demonstrated a calculated organization in carrying out the crime, Welner said. He said severe mental illness doesn't preclude someone from having responsibility for criminal behavior.
Although thoughts of harming her children had plagued Yates intermittently since the birth of her first child in 1994, she kept her homicidal thoughts from her husband, mother, friends, doctors, pastor and the pastor's wife with whom she corresponded, Welner said.
Her best friend, Debbie Holmes, a nurse, had been supportive during Yates' bouts with mental illness, but Yates also did not confide her violent impulses to her. "The relationship with Debbie Holmes was such that (Yates) could speak with her about anything," Welner told the jury Monday.
He said Yates was aware that the people she could have confided in would have prevented her from killing her children or removed them from her care.
Yates acted normally until her husband left for work on the day of the drownings. After her children were dead, she called police, moments before her mother-in-law, Dora Yates, was expected to arrive to help her with the children.
"She did not want Dora to come to the house because she did not want to let her in and see what she had done," Welner said, adding this also demonstrated "she knew her actions were wrong."
Likewise, Yates was unwilling to face her husband or hear his reaction to the children's deaths, jurors learned.
"Russell Yates was summoned home, and when he confronted her, she deliberately ignored him and turned away from him so they wouldn't have any contact. That is consistent with shame," Welner testified.
Source : Houston Chronicle
www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4053481..html
By PEGGY O'HARE and DALE LEZON, Houston Chronicle
Andrea Yates recently told a psychiatrist she understands why the drownings of her five children in 2001 prompted anger and outrage against her, according to a video segment viewed by jurors Monday.
During a 14-hour interview in May, Yates recalled for forensic psychiatrist Michael Welner - prosecutors' new mental health expert - how she felt on the day of her arrest when she heard a talk radio host threaten to put a bullet between her eyes.
Yates had fully expected to go to jail after killing her children, and she heard the venom directed at her over the airwaves as a Houston police officer drove her downtown in his squad car. But up until that moment, she told Welner, she had not considered that she might be executed for her crime.
"He was angry, and he wanted justice," Yates said during the videotaped interview at Rusk State Hospital. Asked if she understood why the talk show host was upset, Yates said, "Yes ... (because of) what had happened - five children."
That video segment was one of several viewed by jurors Monday during Yates' capital murder retrial as Welner explained why he believes the mother of five knew drowning her children in the bathtub of her Clear Lake home was wrong. Yates' lawyers have argued she should be found not guilty by reason of insanity because her mental illness kept her from knowing right from
wrong.
Welner is the second mental health expert that prosecutors have called to testify. His testimony was preceded by that of forensic psychiatrist Park Dietz, who also concluded Yates knew her actions were wrong.
Erroneous testimony
Yates, 42, is being retried for three of her children's deaths on June 20, 2001, because an appeals court threw out her capital murder conviction last year.
The appeals court's decision was based on Dietz's erroneous testimony during Yates' first trial four years ago, which suggested she may have derived the idea of drowning her children from the TV show Law & Order. The episode Dietz described - depicting a mother who was acquitted after drowning her children and pleading insanity - was later found not to exist.
If Yates is convicted again of capital murder, she will automatically be sentenced to life in prison, the only punishment option available since jurors rejected a death sentence during her first trial in 2002. If she is found not guilty by reason of insanity, she will be sent to a state mental hospital and will remain under the jurisdiction of the court, although the law does not allow jurors to be told that before they reach a verdict.
Welner, chairman of The Forensic Panel, a New York consulting outfit touting itself as the first peer-reviewed forensic expert practice in the country, was on the witness stand nearly all day explaining the conclusions outlined in his report to prosecutors. He has not yet undergone cross-examination by Yates' attorneys.
Yates chose not to share her homicidal thoughts with any of the people close to her, then called police so they would discover her children's bodies before her husband and mother-in-law did, Welner said. And she was unwilling to face her husband when he angrily confronted her after the drownings, he added.
Calculated organization
Yates also ignored or declined multiple treatment opportunities and medical advice before the drownings and demonstrated a calculated organization in carrying out the crime, Welner said. He said severe mental illness doesn't preclude someone from having responsibility for criminal behavior.
Although thoughts of harming her children had plagued Yates intermittently since the birth of her first child in 1994, she kept her homicidal thoughts from her husband, mother, friends, doctors, pastor and the pastor's wife with whom she corresponded, Welner said.
Her best friend, Debbie Holmes, a nurse, had been supportive during Yates' bouts with mental illness, but Yates also did not confide her violent impulses to her. "The relationship with Debbie Holmes was such that (Yates) could speak with her about anything," Welner told the jury Monday.
He said Yates was aware that the people she could have confided in would have prevented her from killing her children or removed them from her care.
Yates acted normally until her husband left for work on the day of the drownings. After her children were dead, she called police, moments before her mother-in-law, Dora Yates, was expected to arrive to help her with the children.
"She did not want Dora to come to the house because she did not want to let her in and see what she had done," Welner said, adding this also demonstrated "she knew her actions were wrong."
Likewise, Yates was unwilling to face her husband or hear his reaction to the children's deaths, jurors learned.
"Russell Yates was summoned home, and when he confronted her, she deliberately ignored him and turned away from him so they wouldn't have any contact. That is consistent with shame," Welner testified.
Source : Houston Chronicle
www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4053481..html