Andrea Yates
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Andrea Pia Yates (nee Kennedy) (born July 2, 1964) of Houston, Texas, United States, commited the filicide of her five young children on June 20, 2001 by drowning them in their family bathtub. Formerly convicted of first degree murder in 2002 and sentenced to life in prison with parole possible after forty years, Yates conviction was later overturned on appeal. On July 26, 2006, a Texas jury ruled Yates to be not guilty by reason of insanity. Yates was consequently committed by the court to a high security mental facility in Texas, where she is presently receiving medical treatment.
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[edit] Background
Yates, a native Houstonian who attended Milby High School, married Russell "Rusty" Yates and moved to southeast Houston in the community of Clear Lake City.
In 1992, Yates became a disciple of Michael Peter Woroniecki. Letters from the Woroniecki family were later found by investigative author Suzy Spencer that berated Andrea over her unrighteous standing before God. Woroniecki promoted a doctrine that his followers should have "as many children as nature allows."
Andrea had a history of postpartum depression and psychosis and had been under the care of psychiatrists since 1999. Her first psychiatrist, Dr. Eileen Starbranch, testified that she urged the couple not to have more children, since she felt that to do so would "guarantee future psychotic depression." When Andrea's problems resurfaced three months after the birth of her fifth child and were further exacerbated by the death of her father, she came under the care of Dr. Mohammed Saeed, who treated her up until the murders.
Consequently, Dr. Saeed faced the threat of legal retribution for the medical malpractice in Andrea's treatment. In the immediate fallout after the first trial, Andrea's mother, brothers and sister wanted Dr. Saeed charged with criminal negligence but prosecuters did not follow through with their request. Medical opinion refuted the charge that Saeed had improperly dosed Andrea's illness and caused the killings.[1] Although Rusty Yates had considered a malpractice suit against Dr. Saeed, he did not pursue civil action and allowed the statute of limitations to expire, in the interest of forgiveness, he says. However, legal opinion by experts indicates that such lawsuits made on behalf of third parties is almost impossible to win in Texas. Also, Rusty Yates may have created a legal basis for incriminating himself with parental negligence by pursuing the charges himself. [2]
According to trial evidence in 2006, Rusty Yates did not follow through with Dr. Saeed's medical orders not to leave Andrea unsupervised, as she was when Andrea killed her children.[3] Without informing the doctor of his plans, Rusty announced to a family gathering the weekend before the tragedy of his decision to leave Andrea home alone for an hour in the morning and evening, so that she would not become totally dependent on him and his mother for her maternal responsibilities [4]. Andrea's brother Brian Kennedy told Larry King on a broadcast of CNN's Larry King Live that Rusty expressed to him in 2001 while transporting Andrea to Devereux treatment facility that all depressed people needed is a "swift kick in the pants." [5] Andrea's mother, Jutta Karin Kennedy, expressed shock at such a plan, insisting vehemently to Rusty that he not leave her alone. Mrs. Kennedy added that Andrea was not safe to leave alone with the children, citing that Andrea had recently fed her toothless infant Mary solid food which could have choked her, something Andrea was meticulously careful about when she was lucidly herself, Mrs. Kennedy said. [6]
[edit] Psychiatric care
Yates had been under psychiatric care for postpartum depression since July, 1999 after the birth of her fourth child, up until her decision to conceive another child in early 2000. In March of 2001, with her fifth child still an infant and after a radical descent into severe depression following the death of her father, Yates was forcefully transported to Devereux-Texas Treatment Network by her brother and husband. She was admitted, treated and assigned to a Dr. Mohammed Saeed the following day. There began a series of various pychotropic drug treatments that, according to Andrea's husband, Russell (Rusty), culminated with a radical change to her prescribed medication two days before the murders. Saeed had abruptly tapered off the antipsychotic Haldol two weeks earlier, a medication that had worked for Andrea in 1999. On June 18, Saeed abruptly increased Andrea's dosage of Effexor, much faster than Russell's research indicated was proper. On that visit, despite Russell's reports that Andrea was not improving, Dr. Saeed writes in his notes that Andrea is doing well, tells Andrea to focus on "positive thoughts" and suggests that she see a psychologist. Two days later, on June 20, Russell administers her medication and then goes to work, leaving Andrea alone with the children. In the space between her husband leaving and her mother-in-law arriving, Andrea drowns her five children.
Following the first trial, Andrea's birth family, along with the backing of a Scientology based support group (a group known for their stance against psychiatry), filed a petition with the Houston District Attorney's office to have Dr. Saeed charged with criminal negligence in Andrea's treatment, but prosecuters did not pursue the case after consideration of the matter. Dr. Lucy Puryear told the Houston Chronicle that the doses Dr. Saeed prescribed were commonly appropriate being based on the discretion of the physician and had no bearing on the killings. Instead, the most likely cause for Andrea's reemergent psychosis was the fact that Haldol's antipsychotic effects had dissipated in the two weeks she was removed from them. Although Saeed's misdiagnosis of Andrea's psychosis allowed her psychosis to reemerge, according to trial testimony, Saeed had instructed Russell not to leave Andrea unsupervised since she had a history of suicide attempts. Consequently, Andrea was given the time and space to act on her delusions, which resulted in the deaths of her children.[7][8][9][10][11]
[edit] Kills her children
On June 20, 2001, Yates drowned all five of her children (Noah, aged 7; John, aged 5; Paul, aged 3; Luke, aged 2; and Mary, 6 months) in the bathtub of her home. She immediately called 9-1-1 and was arrested shortly thereafter.
Her defense lawyer later contended that she was suffering from a severe case of recurrent postpartum psychosis. She may have been suffering from additional mental illness for some years, since a pattern of such disorders is said to have run in her family.
In 2004, Rusty Yates divorced Andrea, and remarried in 2006; however, it is reported that Rusty still remains close friends with Andrea.
[edit] Trials
Yates confessed to drowning her children. Her defense asserted postpartum psychosis as the reason she committed the killings. Although the defense's expert testimony agreed that Yates was clearly psychotic, Texas law requires that in order to successfully assert the insanity defense, the defendant must prove that he or she could not discern right from wrong at the time of the crime. In March 2002, a jury rejected the insanity defense and found Yates guilty. Although the prosecution had sought the death penalty, the jury rejected that option. The trial court sentenced Yates to life imprisonment with eligibility for parole in 40 years.[12]
On January 6, 2005, the Texas Court of Appeals reversed the convictions because prosecution witness Dr. Park Dietz, a California psychiatrist, had given false testimony during the trial. Dietz stated that shortly before the killings, an episode of Law & Order had featured a woman who drowned her children and was acquitted of murder by reason of insanity. It was later discovered that no such episode existed; the appellate court held that the jury may have been influenced by his false testimony and that thus a new trial would be necessary. However, later on, the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "Magnificat" would be based on Yates' case.
Yates told her jail psychiatrist, "It was the seventh deadly sin. My children weren't righteous. They stumbled because I was evil. The way I was raising them they could never be saved. They were doomed to perish in the fires of hell."[13]
On January 9, 2006, Yates again entered pleas of not guilty by reason of insanity. On February 1, 2006, she was granted release on bail on the condition that she be admitted to a mental health treatment facility.[14]
Her by-then ex-husband remarried on March 18, 2006, two days before her first scheduled re-trial.
On July 26, 2006, after three days of deliberations, Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity, as defined by the state of Texas. She will be committed to a state mental hospital.[15]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Carol Christian, 'Harmful treatment' Family files complaint against Yates' psychiatrist, Houston Chronicle, Apr. 11, 2002Article
- ^ Mary Flood and Lisa Teachy, Inquiry is likely after TV interview, Houston Chronicle, Dec. 11, 2001Article
- ^ Dale Lezon, "Yates not Grossly Psychotic before Drownings Dietz testifies," Houston Chronicle, July 13, 2006 Article
- ^ Suzanne O'Malley, Are You Alone? p. 300
- ^ CNN-Larry King Live, Jan. 16, 2005 Transcript
- ^ Cynthia Hunt, "Andrea Yates' Mother Recalls Conversation Days before Drownings," KTRK News, Houston, 3/18/2002 Article)
- ^ Dale Lezon, "Yates not Grossly Psychotic before Drownings Dietz testifies," Houston Chronicle, July 13, 2006 Article
- ^ Carol Christian, 'Harmful treatment' Family files complaint against Yates' psychiatrist, Houston Chronicle, Apr. 11, 2002Article
- ^ http://www.law.duke.edu/journals/djglp/downloads/gen10p61.pdf DUKE JOURNAL OF GENDER LAW & POLICY Volume 10:1 2003 TIME LINE OF ANDREA YATES'S LIFE AND TRIAL APRIL 1993 – APRIL 2002 accessed 2006-11-01
- ^ http://www.time.com/time/nation/printout/0,8816,218445,00.html Andrea Yates: More To The Story Time Monday, Mar. 18, 2002 accessed 2006-11-01
- ^ http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/04/11/yates.htm Yates' relatives want doctor charged USA Today 04/11/2002 accessed 2006-11-01
- ^ Andrea Yates: More To The Story Time By Timothy Roche March 18, 2002
- ^ Christian, Carol, Lisa Teachy. "Yates Believed Children Doomed", Houston Chronicle, 2002-03-06. Retrieved on 2006-07-26.
- ^ Psychiatrist: Yates Thought Drownings Were RightJuly 19, 2006
- ^ Brown, Angela K.. "Jury finds Yates not guilty in drownings", Houston Chronicle, 2006-07-26. Retrieved on 2006-07-26.
[edit] References
- Bienstock, Mothers Who Kill Their Children and Postpartum Psychosis, (2003) Vol. 32, No. 3 Southwestern University Law Review, 451.
- Keram, The Insanity Defense and Game Theory: Reflections on Texas v.Yates, (2002) Vol. 30, No. 4 Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 470.
- Spencer, Breaking Point ISBN 0-312-93871-3, See also author website
- The song "Entrance of the Conflagration" by the band Trivium is about Andrea Yates and the murder. The song is featured on their album, The Crusade.
