Special salute to the attorneys involved in the Andrea Yates acquittal. They worked for five years for no money and ultimately obtained justice for Ms. Yates. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060726/ap_on_re_us/yates_trial
The two undeniable factors contributing to the jury's willingness to reach its verdict: (1) The passage of time and (2) the fact that the jurors were chosen from a pool of people that weren't "death qualified," (meaning because the first jury was a capital murder trial all of the prospective jurors who reject the death penaltly for philosophical or other reasons are automatically excluded from the jury. The resulting panel is therefore skewed in favor of the prosecution.)
One big question that keeps popping up: What happens to Ms. Yates now? She will be sent to a state mental hospital. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4073570.html She has been in Rusk for the past few years. http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/mhhospitals/RuskSH/RSH_About.shtm
Her condition will be reviewed periodically by the judge that presided over her trial.
Ms. Yates' case is one of four similar cases to go through the Texas courts in recent years where mothers have been found not guilty of killing their children by reason of insantiy. The Houston Chronicle has an excellent article analyzing the state of the law in Texas for an insanity defense. http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4075087.html
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