Andrea Yates - Guilty and Sane!
 

Andrea Yates, the mother from Houston that drowned her five children to save them from satan, and was pleading not guilty on the grounds of insanity was found guilty of capital murder, in other words sane.

The insanity defense is very tough to win with ever since John Hinkley got off on it when he tried to kill President Reagan, and of course, since they do enjoy snuffing convicts in TX, it makes it that much tougher for her.

Any thoughts? Anyone even paying attention to this trial?

fry the cunt!

I do not think TX offers that as an option. While they do like to condemn their prisoners with reckless abandon, at least they do it the way I would do it if so inclined to take myself out, lethal injection.

I think if they gave me a choice of how I wanted to die, it would either be by the needle, or old age. :Graucho

i mean in figurative terms..... kill the slut...

is that better?

'off with her head'?

hang her!!!

She's definitely insane. The issue wasn't whether or not she was sane, but whether or not her condition fit into the legal definition of insanity... which requires the defense to prove that the defendent didn't know the difference between right and wrong. I think this is going to spur a lot of debate over whether the definition of legal insanity should be changed... I've already seen a bit of that kind of debate on Court TV.

Still, I think she should serve a life sentence (not death, because I don't believe in the death penalty... far too many innocent people die in our conveyor-belt justice system).

Danny -- you would change your tune if your family was mass murdered, I assure you....

Yeah, I was happy as hell when they never mentioned that she was insane. She's one sick fucking bitch the shit that she's done. If you look at the full story about what happend, there'd be no doubts in your minds about killing that bitch. I don't see how anyone could do that to her kids.

Was she insane ? I personally don't take that as a plea, it's just a chickenshit way of people saving their asses. If she was that fucking insane, then she should've been locked up a long time ago.

The thing is that I think that her husband should be held partially accountable for it also because by the way that it sounds, he knew about how dangerous of a woman she was, he saw the signs, but didn't act on them.

That bitch should now off herself so that the Texas taxpayers can save some dime.

:ak47: :BangBang:

LD:thumbsup

Yeah, I would say that is a pretty accurate description of how they do things in TX

My policy is kill them all, let God sort them out.

:Graucho

Her psyciatrist told her and her husband that if they had another child, it might push her over the edge... They disreguarded that recommendation and had their fifth child. That's when she went 'bonkers'.

I'm against the death penalty for the exact same reason Danny stated.

She should spend the rest of her life in jail regardless of her sanity. Wether she was sane or not she killed those kids.

However, I do need to say, what the hell was the husband doing here? He knew this woman had serious mental issues after the birth of her second to last child. He knew she suffered from post natal depression with that child so why the hell did he have another child with her? Sure, anyman will want to have sex again but get the damn snip or god forbid wear a condom.

He is not squeaky clean here. No, he didn't kill the kids but he could have prevented the birth of the last one.

It's hard to believe that someone, sane or not, could actually have the ability to even CONSIDER murdering their children, let alone actually carrying it out.

I'm against the death penalty too, if it was temporary insanity, let her live with the fact that she killed her kids for the rest of her life. I have no sympathy for murderes.

Ah, spoken like someone that has yet to have kids. I love my 2 kids more than life itself, and before I had kids, I often thought the same thing as TopTGP, then I became a father. After a couple of years my thoughts changed to "there, but for the Grace of God, go I."

It is easy to see why a weaker person might break down and kill their kids some times. It takes a strong person to be a parent, and resist the temptation sometimes.

I've yet to have kids, and I'm not sure I will have kids. Growing up, my parents had a hell of a bad time, they were always worrying about me growing up to be succesful and stuff, I think I pleased them on that part, but they practicly ruined themselves over worrying about me and my brother.. :(

Damn, I don't know if I'm as strong as my parents where.

who gives a shit about her sanity, she killed her children.
for that she must die :ak47:

that is REALLY good with a Lemon Burnaise sauce..

Careful what you say, Kman.

My sister was brutally murdered. She was kidnapped from right in front of our house, sexually assaulted, strangled with a rope, and finally had her face crushed with a large rock. She was an extremely innocent girl who did not deserve any of that.

Another person who was very close to me (immediate family, but the person is staying anonymous for obvious reasons) was falsely accused. At the time that it happened, she was the 6th young girl murdered in a short period of time in Santa Fe, and the District Attorney was up for reelection. The people wanted somebody behind bars. So he paid an "expert" to examine some bite marks on her neck. This "expert" gave a positive match, and the wrong person was arrested.

He was tried for her rape and murder, and the prosecution asked for the death penalty. My entire family was in shock, and felt helpless. We knew he was innocent, but nobody was listening.

Finally, our attorney called in another expert who was independent, rather than working for the DA. He found that the "bite marks" that matched the defendent's teeth, besides being far from a match of any sort, weren't even bite marks. They were rope marks.

Since that was the only piece of evidence they had, he was finally released after 6 months in jail for killing his own family member. It was, in fact, proven, through DNA, semen found in her (he's sterile), pubic hairs, and other means, that he was innocent. I want to point that out so people are clear: he was not released for insufficient evidence; he was PROVEN innocent beyond a shadow of a doubt.

But here's the thing: we had a damn good lawyer. If we had been poor, and had to settle for a public defender (which most poor people have to do), we would have been shuffled right through the justice system, and he would have been executed.

Now, where's the justice in taking another family member from a family who has already suffered a severe loss? Tell me that.

Then, I read up on the statistics, and I learn of just how many cases there are like this. District Attorneys MUST put people behind bars to get reelected, and they will go to any extreme just to make sure SOMEBODY goes to jail.

I just read some more interesting justice system stories the other day in Crashing the Party. I've suggested that book before, and I'll suggest it again. Ralph Nader, whether you agree with him or not, is a library of knowledge and history.

Sorry to have gotten personal... this is a story I've actually only talked about with people who are close to me... and it was sort of hard to write it. But maybe I can change a couple of minds, and if I do, I think it's worth it.

fry the bitch

Danny, you didn't have to change my mind as I already felt the same as you. However, I just wanted to tell you how powerful I found that account of something only of us us could only experiance in our nightmares.

Yes he would, but it doesn't matter how he would feel. Our laws were created for objective reasons, not subjective. If your family or friends were murdered, you would no longer think objectively, I guarantee it.

Don't know about you guys, but I don't want any emotional people (subjective thinkers) making my laws. It's bound for troubles.

I'm with Danny on this one. Lately a lot of people have been released because of new knowledge acquired by better technology. If we would have killed them, an innocent would be dead. Now how would you feel if you were that person?

On top of that, what's the difference between a life sentence and the death penalty to the public? Peace of mind? Or are you scared they will escape? And don't give me the line of Bull shit saying that you don't want to pay for someone to sit in prison. Because in all reality, it costs MORE to put someone to death then let them sit in a cell.

Makes you think, huh?

Don't get me wrong, I'm as tough as they come when it comes to crime. I just don't believe in killing people, regardless of what they did.

* Waiting for flames. *

Thanks for sharing your story Danny, much appreciated.

Do you really have to ask whether a mother who kills her five children, for no real reason, is sane or insane?
A better question is were the jury sane?

Sorry I forgot they were Texans, shoot first and ask questions afterwards.

The whole situation was some really sick shit.. I think the jury made the right decision- and wheter she gets life in prison or the death penalty- she'll get the punishment she deserves and live a miserable rest of her life.

Not that im one to judge ;)

~~Alli

Ummm, errr, how did you arrive at that conclusion?

Thanks for relaying your story Danny_C, but I think it is a great argument for a National DNA database, at least kept for those incarcerated. However, that opens a new can of worms for some, I am sure.

I don't like the death penalty. I have a problem with state sponsored executions. It's a political nightmare waiting to happen.

That said, shoot her and be done with it.
Simple enough.
If she is insane, truly insane, is it compassionate to let her get well enough to fully comprehend what she has done? She would just kill herself, anyway. And a long countdown to an execution is a cruel punishment.

Has anyone thought about hitting her with a car and leaving her in the windsheild to die??? seems to be the latest craze!

:1orglaugh
Not a bad idea!

Ummm, errr, how did you arrive at any other conclusion? Oh wait, that's right, once someone is sentenced, some big guy named Thor grabs the shovel from the maintenance shed and whacks her in the back of the head. Right?

Any trial involves lots of court time and paperwork. A restraining order alone is $200 and there's barely anything involved. So we're talking about paying lawyers, jurors, judges, court workers, and more for each individual trial. Then she'll file an appeal, right? Probably end up with the same sentence. Appeal again, until she no longer can.

Putting someone to death costs well over one million tax paying dollars. Life in prison is around $250K, depending on how old the prisoner is of course.

While it is true that is most, if not all states, and death penalty conviction results in an automatic appeal, life imprisonment will usually end up being appealed too.


I am pretty busy right now, but when get a chance will look up how much it costs to keep someone in prison per year, as I feel your estimate of life in prison only costs $250,000 is a severe underestimate.