Jury selection set to begin Monday in trial of Texas mother accused of drowning her children

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Posted 8:11AM on Monday, January 7, 2002

HOUSTON - There is little debate over what happened in Andrea Yates' home on June 20: The mother of five told police that she drowned her children. What is under dispute is her state of mind that day. Defense attorneys and prosecutors were expected to begin questioning dozens of potential jurors Monday in order to seat a panel that will hear the capital murder trial and determine what responsibility Yates should bear. Yates, 37, who has pleaded innocent by reason of insanity, could get the death penalty if jurors decide she was sane when she drowned three children ranging in age from 6 months to 7 years. In September, a different set of jurors determined Yates was competent to stand trial, meaning she understands the charges against her and can assist with her defense. Yates faces two capital murder charges: for drowning Noah, 7, and John, 5; and for drowning Mary, 6 months. In Texas, those convicted of a multiple murder or killing an infant are eligible for the death penalty. "I want to hold her accountable for the death of those children," Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal has said. "That's my job, to hold people accountable for what they do." Charges are pending for the drownings of the other two Yates children, Paul, 3, and Luke 2. Both prosecutors and defense attorneys have submitted long lists of expert witnesses to testify about Yates' mental status before and at the time of the drownings. Testimony is not expected to start until February. Officers arriving at Yates' home within a few moments of her emergency call to a 911 operator were greeted by her at the door with wet hair and clothes. In a back bedroom, four lifeless children were discovered under a sheet on a bed. A fifth body was face down in a half-filled bathtub. She had drowned them all, she told stunned officers. Once testimony begins, jurors will hear the tape of Yates' call to 911 operator Sylvia Morris. "Are you having a disturbance? Are you ill?" Morris asked the mother of five shortly before 10 a.m. on June 20. "Yes, I am ill," Yates replied, but provided no other clue why she wanted police to come to her one-story brick home while her husband was at work at nearby Johnson Space Center. It's unclear what kind of illness Yates was referring to, but her attorneys and her husband say she suffers from a severe form of postpartum depression. If found innocent, they say she will be placed in a mental hospital to get help. Whether her illness meets the legal definition of insanity will be a key issue, University of Texas law professor George Dix said. "Mrs. Yates primary impairment is one of depression," Dix said. "Often depression doesn't affect somebody's ability to reason. In theory, her perception has to have been so distorted she did not understand her action was wrong." Other evidence to be considered includes an audiotaped confession Yates gave police officers the day of the drownings, years of Yates' medical records detailing her bouts with depression and suicide attempts, and a doctor's caution that Yates and her husband think twice about having additional children after their fourth child was born in 1999. The pretrial posturing has been subjected to legal wrangling, with State District Judge Belinda Hill appointing a special prosecutor last month to see if Yates' husband and Rosenthal violated her gag order by speaking with reporters.