Andreap Yates News Today

>> there were six victims in this case, and one was andrea herself because of mental illness. >> by the second trial, there had been research articles and talks and it became much more in the public vernacular, particularly postpartum depression. >> in june 2006, five years to the month after the tragedy, andrea yates second trial commenced. the defense kept their arguments very specific. >> we focused on wrongfulness, mental health and wrongfulness and postpartum issues, wrongfulness more so in...

Conservative. >> rusty had been serious about religion since college. he introduced andrea to the unconventional preachings of michael woroniecki. >> woroniecki, and his family traveled around the country or certainly around texas in a bus proselytizing i think mostly on college campuses. >> he told the female students that they were going to hell because they were studying and learning in a material world when they should be out there reproducing. >> the dilemma with his message as i understand...

Outright dismissal of all charges arguing that a second trial would constitute double jeopardy. finally, in january 2005, some 3 1/2 years after the original conviction, the texas state supreme court issued an opinion. double jeopardy did not apply but andrea yates would be granted a new trial. >> tonight, she drowned her five children, was sentenced to spend the rest of her life in prison, but recently a texas appeals court overturned andrea yates conviction. >> pending the new trial, the defen...

So i looked to my right and down and there was yates. she was sitting on the couch. just sitting there. she never looked at me. i walked into the room, and i was expecting to find a man on the floor. a body. and i was looking around, looking around. saying, what? i see this little, tiny head. and it was looking right at me. and a little head was about maybe 10 or 15 feet from there at the edge of the bed. i said, what in the world? i thought it was a doll. and i walked over to that little tiny h...

Of capital murder as charged in the indictment. >> i was devastated. >> knowing how much andrea loved our children and how much they loved her and knowing that she would never have harmed them had she not been mentally ill, all right, i -- i view her, and i know its hard for people to see this, but i view her as a victim. i dont view her as a criminal. >> in the punishment phase of the trial, the jury sided with the defense and rejected the death penalty. andrea yates was sentenced to life in pr...

Andrea. >> i can say that coming to a decision to divorce andrea was really a difficult decision, and it took me probably more time than it should have, but i finally came to the understanding that theres a difference between forgiveness and consequences. >> i talk to andrea probably four times a week. i long ago crossed the line from professionalism to personal involvement, and she -- shes a daughter, basically. and thats the way i treat andrea. >> george parnham and i and the mental health ass...

Argument was the questionable testimony given by park dietz, lead psychiatrist for the prosecution. >> theres never been an episode that has aired on "law & order" involving the park dietz testified about. we confronted park dietz about that, and he said he was mistaken. he must have been in vera. >> the appeals process would take months of meticulous preparation for multiple arguments, but in the end everything hinged on the dietz testimony. >> we had 19 points of error, and only one point was ...

Capital murder, and it was a big case because she didnt get adequate mental health care treatment. so from that facet of my life, you know, im doing my best to try to redirect and say -- move in that direction to where i can help mentally ill people. >> hello. >> hi. >> how are you today? how many is that? >> four. >> four? >> see? one, two, three, four. >> i think if we can take the andrea yates, the generic andrea yates, the whole story of her kids, and we can move forward in the area of menta...

The doctor as wed successfully treated it in 99. if it happened again, we knew how to treat it. thinking ahead, we were thinking, if it happens at awe, it will be a relatively short spell, shell be down at worst for a while. >> for the yates, adding to their family outweighed the risks. to ensure a healthy pregnancy, andrea yates went off all her medication. >> if youre on medication and you come on and off of it, a lot we think that it does something to your brain, and then if you get sick, you...

Woman that killed my children. she obviously wasnt herself. and i think that will come out. ou know, im just completely surprised that people think that, well, because i defend andrea as being a wonderful mother, that she shouldnt be punished, that somehow, you know, im condoning her actions, you know? her actions were almost indescribably devastating to me and my family. >> he took it upon himself like it was some kind of badge of honor and on tv and giving interviews and all kinds of stuff whi...