Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

Posted by MrsS2005

Posted by Redhead

any man that allowed his children to be alone with a woman who has done the above

IMO is the worse of two evil

yet he is married and free to have kids again

What about the doctors she saw? Do you think they are responsible for the children's deaths? Is anyone more at fault than the other?

Does anyone know why the state hasn't gone after the husband? He should be held responsible to some degree.

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

Posted by MrsS2005

Posted by Redhead

any man that allowed his children to be alone with a woman who has done the above

IMO is the worse of two evil

yet he is married and free to have kids again

What about the doctors she saw? Do you think they are responsible for the children's deaths? Is anyone more at fault than the other?

Does anyone know why the state hasn't gone after the husband? He should be held responsible to some degree.

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

i am not trying to be rude in this...

but i think that people have this harsh reaction to her and what she did because they do not and refuse to learn about her situation and what happened...

People refuse (i say that generally) to acknowledge that there are cases that institutionalization is in fact the correct course of action...PRIMARILY because they can only focus on the specific event

and this really isn't a case that should be focused on what she did that day

But years of mental illness that was well know to professinals, to her DH and herself

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

I work in a psych facility too. Red is right. Hospitalizations are no picnic and they arent easy on anyone especially the client. Mental illness does not always manifest itself early on. It can sometimes take a traumatic event to bring things to a head. I think people really need to take out the latest copy of the DSM and read for themselves. If she was fragile to begin with, I cant imagine that having children back to back would be easy on her. What about Rusty? Why shouldn't HE be held accountable or even sterilized himself. What if he decides to "replace" his 5 children with his new wife and SHE has a breakdown too. Andrea alone is not to blame for this horrific tragedy. May those darling children rest in peace.

Message edited 7/26/2006 6:44:27 PM.

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

In March of 2000, Andrea, on Rusty's urging, became pregnant and stopped taking the Haldol. On November 30, 2000, Mary was born. Andrea was coping but on March 12, her father died and immediately her mental state digressed. She stopped talking, refused liquids, mutilated herself, and would not feed Mary. She also frantically read the Bible.

ON RUSTY"S URGING

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

I blame her husband as well. He knew she want mental and didn't do anything about it but keep getting her pregnant.

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

Jail is meant to rehabilitate. Institutionalization is meant for treatment. Nobody can expect a mentally ill person to wake up one day and no longer be mentally ill. That is why jail isnt appropriate. I do not think she should be released, but placed in a psychiatric treatment center for long term care. Perhaps after extended treatment, she could be in a strictly supervised group facility, but I think that is years in the making.

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

this is just a sad situation..

you are right jenn, and very knowledgable on the situation..

its just hard for people to comprehend, even me, especially if you are not mentally ill, how someone can kill 5 of their own children.... to me i cant get past that..its hard for me to get past that even though i understand and agree with you.

yes i blame the doctors, husband, state.. they had a part in this...

but when you hear about the situation that day. those poor kids..i cant help but think about their rights too

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

Posted by kdelace

this is just a sad situation..

you are right jenn, and very knowledgable on the situation..

its just hard for people to comprehend, even me, especially if you are not mentally ill, how someone can kill 5 of their own children.... to me i cant get past that..its hard for me to get past that even though i understand and agree with you.

yes i blame the doctors, husband, state.. they had a part in this...

but when you hear about the situation that day. those poor kids..i cant help but think about their rights too

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

May she burn in HELL

those poor babies, I have NO sympathy for her

Message edited 7/26/2006 7:17:49 PM.

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

The whole story is very sad and disturbing. I blmae the husband too. He did nothing to help her and left her alone with the children. What I can't get over is that she had to chase the older one to catch him. My heart breaks for those five children. Regardless of what happens to her, it will never bring those babies back. although I do beleive there has to be some type of consquences. There has to be wrong with an individual who would do that.

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

I think they are both to blame somewhat.

Those poor little kids.

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

As a mother, this story sickens me so much, but I agree 100% with Red this woman was mentally ill for many years and her husband completely ignored it and urged her repeatedly to have multiple children. I totally think he should also be held accountable for what happened to those innocent children.

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

My issue is that the definition of "not guilty by reason of insanity" is NOT knowing that what you have done is wrong because of the mental illness.

"Prosecutors had maintained that Yates failed to meet the state's definition of insanity: that she was so severely mentally ill that she did not know her actions were wrong." (AP News article)

She has repeatedly said that she knew what she was doing was wrong, but felt it had to be done to "save" the children. For me, as soon as she admits she knows what she did was wrong, she needs to be put in jail.

JMO, and I openly put on the table that I have no idea what happens in mental institutions. But for me, legally, she did not meet the requirement.

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

I'm sorry, no matter what, she should have been sent to prison for the rest of her life so that she can live each and every day knowning what she did to her children. For God sakes, I read that she chased her 7 year old around the house to catch him in order to drown him. I'm sorry, this is my opinion and of course I have no right to judge b/c I have not walked in her shoes, HOWEVER, she did the crime, those poor little angels.......she deserves to be jailed FOREVER!!!!!!!!!

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

Message edited 7/26/2006 9:10:16 PM.

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

I am also going with Reds views of Andrea Yates. She is definitely where she belongs and jail is not it. She has a very long history of mental illness. I do not believe being put in an instution is a picnic in comparison to a jail. She has to live the rest of her life knowing what shes done. In itself when she is on the proper medication and right treatment she will realize how BAD this really is. As for the husband. He was probably a codependent in the relationship. She probably controlled their relationship and I am sure he tried to struggle to do what he thought was helping the family. Who can predict what a mentally ill person is going to do. I dont think he is at fault for all of this. I think he and his family were in a VERY bad situation and were victims of not receiving the right treatment.

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

I completely agree with Jen and Leslie. I also work in a psychiatric hospital and know what true psychosis looks like. No one is denying what she did to her children. It is horrible and so tragic. However she was psychotic and needs treatment. Life in a long term psychiatric hospital is no picnic. It's not easy to be discharged and I honestly feel that she'll never be discharged. She needs treatment, which is what she will get in a hospital. I do think she should be held accountable for what she did. Sentencing her to a psychiatric hospital is holding her accountable.

I also think that her exhusband should have been held accountable as well. He is also guilty, as he neglected his children and left them alone with her knowing what she was capable of.

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

Re: Jury: Yates not guilty by reason of insanity

I agree that some doctors are burnt out. That is true anywhere. However I think that there's going to be such scrutiny around this case that it's going to be almost impossible for her to be discharged. I honestly believe that she'll spend the rest of her life in a hospital.