Search Results for: andrea yates

Andrea Yates’ conviction has been thrown out by the Texas First Court of Appeals. The three-member appeals court granted Yates’ motion to have her conviction reversed because the state’s expert psychiatric witness testified that Yates had patterned her actions after … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Lawyers for Andrea Yates are arguing before an appeals court that false testimony from a prosecution witness tainted her case and helped wrongfully convict her. During the trial, [Dr. Park] Dietz, a California psychiatrist and prosecution witness, told defense attorney … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Andrea Yates is doing better at the psychiatric hospital in Galveston, though she’s still clearly very ill. Andrea Yates, who three years ago drowned her children in a bathtub, was reported to be improving in a hospital here Thursday although … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The house in Clear Lake where Andrea Yates lived has been sold. After being on the market for almost six months, the house where Andrea Yates drowned her five children in a bathtub has been sold. Real estate agent Mike … Continue reading → Continue reading →

An appeal has been filed by Andrea Yates’ lawyer, which alleges numerous mistakes in the trial, bad testimony from Dr. Park Dietz, and that Texas’ insanity statute is unconstitutional. “The standards presently in place are extremely archaic and do nothing … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I always find it difficult to read articles about Andrea and Rusty Yates and their children. This is no exception. It’s been almost three years since [Andrea] drowned the boys and 6-month-old Mary in the bathtub in their home. Interviews … Continue reading → Continue reading →

A Houston grand jury is looking into some erroneous statements made by Dr. Park Dietz, an expert witness for the prosecution during his testimony in the trial of Andrea Yates. Nationally renowned for his work on cases such as those … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Charles Krauthammer explains why he would have voted to acquit Andrea Yates. I don’t think you can say it any better than he does here. Continue reading →

Interesting analysis of the career of Chuck Rosenthal and how his judgment, which he claims was at fault for all the recent unpleasantness, has been an issue for quite some time. Attorney Jim Leitner, who ran against Rosenthal in 2000 … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Dr. Park Dietz is on the stand again today for a third day of testimony and cross-examination in the Andrea Yates retrial. On Friday, he gave his reasons why he thinks Yates does not meet the statutory requirements for legal … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I wrote before that I was puzzled by the seeming lack of aggression by the prosecutors in the second Andrea Yates trial, since it appeared they were doing very little cross examination of defense witnesses. Whatever the case was there, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As I read through the recent coverage of the Andrea Yates trial, I have to ask something: Is the prosecution not bothering to cross-examine any of these defense witnesses, or has there just been nothing to come out of the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The defense team for Andrea Yates, in conjunction with a passel of mental health advocates, is challenging the qualifications of a prosecution expert for the upcoming retrial. Yates’ attorneys are challenging the qualifications of the state’s expert witnesses, including Dr. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Hmmm…my invitation must have gotten lost in the mail. Russell “Rusty” Yates Jr. will remarry this weekend, two days before his ex-wife, Andrea Yates, is scheduled to be retried in the 2001 murders of the couple’s children. On Saturday, Yates … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Supreme Court will review whether states must provide for an insanity defense in criminal cases and what their standards for evidence are. Though the suit in question originated in Arizona, it may have an effect on the Andrea Yates … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ve tried and failed to come up with a snarky-but-not-tasteless way to describe this story, so I’m just going to present it without comment. I’m not sure it needs comment anyway. Newly divorced Russell Yates said in a newspaper interview … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In September of 2003, Plano housewife Lisa Diaz obeyed the voices in her head that ordered her to kill her children. She drowned her two daughters in a bathtub, then stabbed herself repeatedly in an ultimately unsuccessful suicide attempt. In … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The plot thickens. The psychiatrist whose erroneous testimony led an appeals court to overturn Andrea Yates’ conviction for drowning her children said Friday that he got the flawed information from Harris County prosecutors. Park Dietz, of California, said it was … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Rusty and Andrea Yates are getting divorced. In his divorce petition, Rusty Yates, 39, says he and his wife of 11 years ceased to live together as husband and wife on or about June 20, 2001 — the day Andrea … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The top story in today’s Chron is a status report on the unjustly convicted citizens of Tulia. They’re still miles away from any kind of genuinely happy ending. Last June, Gov. Rick Perry signed a bill freeing those who were … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Somehow in the midst of all the school finance madness, a Senate committee is looking at the state’s antiquated insanity laws. A legislative panel is conducting its first hearing on the standard that requires a defendant seeking to be found … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m reading this article about the differences between Andrea Yates and Deanna Laney, and my jaw is still hanging open after finishing this section: Dr. Park Dietz, the nationally noted psychiatrist who testified that Yates knew her actions were wrong … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Deanna Laney, the East Texas woman who stoned two of her sons to death and injured a third, was found not guilty by reason of insanity on Friday, meaning that her jury found her to be not quite the same … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I haven’t really been following the trial of Deanna Laney, the East Texas woman on trial for killing two of her children by stoning them to death (a third child survived), but I did notice that everyone’s favorite professional witness, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

On the one hand, I suppose I should be glad that one of the prosecutors in the Andrea Yates case is now telling health care professionals that Yates was very, very sick when she killed her children. Andrea Yates had … Continue reading → Continue reading →

US District Judge William Wayne Justice criticized the criminal justice system for “a spirit of vengeance” in dealing with the mentally ill. He was in town at the UT-Houston Medical School giving a lecture. For proof look no further than … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Two recent items have gotten me thinking about the death penalty. This article in The American Prospect talks about recent shifts in opinion on the death penalty. I find that sort of thing to be more wishful thinking than anything … Continue reading → Continue reading →