Andrea Yates in 2001, Andrea Kennedy Yates Essay

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Andrea Yates

In 2001, Andrea Kennedy Yates drowned her five children one at a time in her bathtub (Moisse, 2012). The first criminal trial lasted a total of only three weeks. Yates was convicted of capital murder, but was not given the death penalty. Instead, Yates was given life in prison with a chance for parole in 2041. However, in 2005, Yates' initial conviction was overturned in a Texas appellate court. A new trial was ordered, based primarily on the fact that a witness for the prosecution lied under oath. During the initial trial of Yates, the prosecution called Park Dietz to attempt to establish premeditation. Dietz "falsely told jurors that Yates had watched an episode of "Law and Order" in which a mother had drowned her children in their bathtub…but no episode had ever aired," ("How Andrea Yates Lives, and Lives With Herself, a Decade Later," n.d.). In 2006, the new trial began. This one focused on Yates' mental illness much more so than the original trial had. Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity; that insanity being qualified as postpartum depression. Instead of being sentenced to life in prison, Yates was placed in a state psychiatric hospital.

• What circumstances and/or behaviors in this case indicate the presence of mental health concerns?

Yates' postpartum depression became the primary topic in the second trial, whereas the first trial focused mainly on the murderous acts themselves. However, Yates demonstrated evidence of mental illness years before she murdered her five children. She had engaged in behaviors such as self-mutilation, and had tried to commit suicide on more than one occasion (Montaldo, n.d.).

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At certain points, Yates hallucinated and exhibited signs of schizophrenia such as hearing voices. These were all circumstances and behaviors that indicated the presence of mental health concerns, as if the murder of her five young children was not enough to signal a problem. Yates had been seeing a psychiatrist, and had been on antipsychotic medications. One of Yates' psychiatrists "warned the Yates that having another baby might bring on more episodes of psychotic behavior," (Montaldo, n.d.). Moreover, Yates "had been released from a psychiatric hospital weeks before" the murders ("Andrea Yates, who killed her five children, will ask for pass to attend church," 2012).

• Did the mental health issue contribute to the criminal conduct being charged in the case?

It has been determined in a court of law that post-partum depression contributed to the criminal conduct being charged in the case. For one, Yates had been obsessing about religious dogma delivered from a preacher that she and her husband had come to like. The teachings demeaned women, and Yates internalized those Biblical teachings to the point where she felt her children were evil, as was she. A series of psychotic episodes, which caused Yates to fantasize about killing, and then actually kill, was raised in the trial. Her mental illness was shown to contribute to the feelings of depression and low self-esteem, and the insanity that caused her actions. Yates' husband has recently stated that "it's really the illness, you know, that caused this, not her," indicating his….....

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