Insanity defence for killer mom
2001-06-25 08:07
Houston - The woman accused of killing her five young children by
systematically drowning them in their bathtub will likely plead
innocent by reason of insanity, her attorney said.
Andrea Yates, 36, told police she drowned her children - Noah, 7;
John, 5; Paul, 3; Luke, 2; and 6-month-old Mary - one by one at
their home.
She was charged with capital murder for the deaths of Noah and John
and authorities said other charges might follow.
Yates' attorney, George Parnham, said he has talked with
psychiatrists who have examined her in jail.
"I've accumulated evidence in the last 24 hours that strongly
suggests that the mental status of my client will be the issue,
which means entering a not guilty plea by reason of insanity,"
Parnham told the Houston Chronicle.
He would not say what evidence indicated she was insane when she
killed the children and also declined to say anything about her
current mental state, the newspaper reported on Sunday.
Yates' husband, Russell, told reporters on Thursday that she was driven to harm their children by her severe postpartum depression,
coupled with her father's recent death.
George Dix, a law professor at the University of Texas, said
insanity defences are rarely used and rarely succeed. To be found
innocent by reason of insanity, Yates would have to show that she
was so mentally impaired that she couldn't see circumstances for
what they were.
For example, if she "believed her children to be devils, she's
entitled to acquittal", Dix told the Dallas Morning News.
"Homicide consists of causing the death of another person," Dix
said. "If you believe the thing you destroyed was not a person, the
verdict is your conduct wasn't criminal."
Three years ago in Houston, a jury acquitted Evonne Rodriguez of
capital murder in the beating and strangling death of her
4-month-old son. Rodriguez told authorities she thought her son was
possessed by demons. She was sent to a state mental hospital.
Michelle Oberman, a law professor at DePaul University in Chicago and author of "Mothers Who Kill Their Children", which will be released in August, said postpartum depression has been a defence
element in cases of mothers killing children since the mid-1980s.
"The best chance she has, if she's got any good chance, lies in
hoping the jury understands the circumstances under which she was
operating and to understand the reality of postpartum depression,"
Oberman told the Dallas newspaper.
About 10 percent to 20 percent of mothers face some level of
postpartum depression. Most cases are mild, and can be treated with
counselling and medicine. Some cases, however, are severe enough to cause psychosis or delusions. - Sapa-AP
- SAPA