The Texas law at the time of the Yates’ crimes was unforgiving and narrow. The insanity defence was close to impossible to apply. In order to be considered for the insanity defence, the defendant should have absolutely no knowledge of what is right and wrong. There is no such finding as guilty but insane as it is assumed that once a person is found guilty and is insane then the incarceration is like treatment to keep them away from others they may harm. However, the unusual cases of insanity are not covered in the Texas law as the narrow definition of insane looks for the defendant feeling like they did nothing wrong and also expert testimony clearly showing the defendant has an inhibiting mental illness.
Their use of the M’Naghten type standard means there are two criterions for the individual trying to use insanity for a defence. First, the defendant needs to know the nature and quality of the act the individual committed. Second, the defendant needs to know whether the act is right or wrong. If not both of these criterions are met then the insanity defence will not be applied. Only severe mental illness will be considered, as mental health experts need to testify to the defendant’s illness.
During the first trial it was revealed that Andrea had put a lot of planning and consideration into her killings. She waited for her husband to leave, and called in one child at a time. She filled the bathtub with water months before, what she says was a precaution because their bills were not paid in time. The mental health experts that testified agreed that Andrea was psychotic. The scientific investigation of Andrea Yates does not include the entire picture. She had matted hair, she scratched at her scalp, and she believed the devil had marked her. Andrea was not hearing what the attorneys were telling her, she was preoccupied by her mental illness. The insanity defence, however, was rejected as she knew what she did was wrong. The death penalty was also refused but Yates was found guilty and sentenced to 40 years before eligibility for parole. Park Dietz testified in the trial and led to the reversal of the conviction, which led to the second trial.
Dietz admitted to giving false testimony as an expert witness. He claimed Yates had watched “Law and Order” before killing her children and got the idea from that show. However, this episode did not exist and, as the jury may have been inaccurately informed by Dietz’s false testimony, the trial was required. In the second trial Yates’ attorneys tried for the insanity defence again. She was then found guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a mental health facility.
The prosecution had many arguments facilitating their belief that Andrea Yates was no insane, according to the Texas rule, at the time of the murders. They argued she knew what she did was wrong. She planned her acts in order not to get caught and interrupted. When she was done killing her children she called the police and confessed. She waited for the police to arrive and gave up immediately, not making any kind of excuse for her actions. Officers even reported that she was in her mind enough to tell them where to find clean glasses and how to get into the house with a key hidden at the front door. She was in complete control of herself and acted on what she thought she had to do in order to save the children. She knew she had to be punished for her actions as it was a sin to murder. When with her attorneys she even hoped for the death penalty in order to die for her sins. She felt guilty for what she had done and knew it was not right. In order to be considered for the death penalty by Texas law she should have no knowledge that her actions were evil. Yet Andrea seemed to know exactly that what she did was wrong.
Also, Andrea Yates did not show signs of being delusional or hysteric at the time. She was calm and intelligent, officers claimed. Everything she said and did was coherent and methodical. Her hysteria was not evident at the time of the crime. This was also emphasized by the methodical way she killed her children, asking for them, one after the other, to come to the bathroom without them suspecting her to kill them. She remained calm throughout her actions and stayed composed even afterwards in order to deal with the police and eventually the attorneys. In fact, it was said that Andrea watched movies about the seven deadly sins before killing her children. This included the movie “Seven” which revolves around two conflicted police officers that deal with a serial killer punishing those that commit a deadly sin. Her obsession with religion and religious righteousness may have influenced her belief that she needed to kill her children before they commit a sin. Although this may seem like a delusion of psychosis, Andrea informed herself about the deadly sins and thought about killing her children for a long time before she committed.
Another argument against the insanity defence was that Andrea Yates had been able to control her actions previously, not reacting to her need to hurt her children. She controlled her impulse on other occasions, however, decided to act on them on this day. She had the urge to act violently towards her oldest son, Noah, yet could control herself and prevent herself from hurting him. She did not harm the kids and was seen as a loving mother by friends and family. What is was the led Andrea to kill her children on that day was not completely clear as Andrea did not suddenly get hysterical and attack her children, but restrained herself until her husband was gone.
Andrea Yates had a history of mental illness, including depression, and suicide attempts. However, she acted against her best interest and the suggestions by the mental health professionals she confined in. After some time of getting better with the help of the medication, Andrea decided to stop taking the medication because she believed it was inhibiting her from being a good mother and being herself. She knew there was a risk that she would become depressed again, or even worse, if she so suddenly stopped taking her medication. However, that did not convince her to continue taking it. She was irresponsible of her actions and did not take responsibility for her own health and the safety of others.
Essentially, Andrea Yates knew her actions were wrong. She was aware of the consequences of the actions and recognized it was a sin. She wanted to receive the death penalty for her crime and did not hesitate to answer that she had killed the children. A legally insane person would not have the ability to differentiate right from wrong. Andrea decided to kill her children and thought about how to do this. She murdered them in cold blood and the mental health issues she has did not inhibit her mind to go through each step of the process.
The other side of the argument is that all of this information emphasizes how Andrea Yates’ mental health issues impacted her actions on the day she killed her children. She suffered for many years, seeking treatment for various problems. What is believed to have affected Andrea the most was her postpartum psychosis. This is a condition that should qualify and individual for the insanity defence. Her way of thinking was greatly affected that led her emotions and behaviours to be inappropriate for the situation she was in. Andrea had anxiety problems and depression that increased the impact postpartum psychosis had on her life. She showed to be delusional, believing Satan was contacting her and trying to tell her to kill her children. Andrea was agitated frequently and felt the need to hurt her children, especially Noah. Although there is no agreement about the diagnosis of postpartum psychosis, Andrea Yates has a case of postpartum depression and her hallucinations and delusions would lead most experts to find that she is suffering from a mental illness.
The help Andrea got from her psychiatrists was inconsistent. The psychiatrists failed to contact each other in order to gain knowledge about previous findings or successful drugs. Each psychiatrist, as her case was handed on, took her health in a different direction, leading to fluctuations in her ability to live a normal life and deal with her illness. Her 1999 breakdown and suicide attempt was a call for help that people answered, but not entirely. She took medication for a while but when she stopped there was no one telling her she needed to continue taking her medication in order to get better. With her husband at her side to take care of her, she believed she was better off not taking medication. For many years to follow, her treatments proved unsuccessful and she was given medicine that had no real effect on her. This, along with a history of mental illness in her family, depression, Andrea was spiralling and bound to break down at some point. No one was keeping their eye open for her, making sure she was getting healthier. The medical professionals failed at their job and failed at communicating with each other in order to help Andrea get through her illness.
Since the birth of their first child, Andrea was constantly breastfeeding or pregnant. She had fluctuations of her mood and was preoccupied with her infant’s well-being. This made her focus solely on the health of her children, neglecting her own health. Her major concern was that she was not a good mother. Along with her delusions, she believed Satan was giving her no choice but to kill her children in order to protect them from a terrible future. She also decided to home school her children, further isolating them from the world. They were no longer allowed to follow their hobbies and Andrea and Rusty raised the children alone. This isolation made Andrea take on more responsibility, as now their failure was solely based on her ability to be a good mother and teacher.
Her fear of them not succeeding and being bad people was also based on her religious focus. She was obsessed with religion and formed much of their lives around the Bible and teaching from their friend, Woroniecki. He taught the Yates’ about people and the world, as well as how religion should influence your thought and behaviour. Her strong religious beliefs, taught by Woroniecki, influenced Andrea’s delusions and hallucinations, especially those concerning Satan. She believed to have been marked by the devil and protected her children by killing them. Woroniecki, along with Andrea’s hormonal imbalance, fostered her delusion of demons.
During the time of Andrea’s development of religious delusions she was struck by grief as her father died. She felt very connected to her father and his death made Andrea fall into depression. Her suicide attempt then brought her to a mental health facility. However, it was not only this that emphasizes her need to be treated for her illness. She was isolated and her children were isolated due to their wish to home school their children. There was illness in her family that strained family members and relationships. Also, people reposted that Rusty pressured Andrea for more children, wanting to accept any child that God gave them. Andrea was a caring mother and loved her family. However, her denial and refusal to accept and treat her illness allowed it to get out of control.
Andrea’s delusions included that she believed someone put cameras in her home, there was a truth serum in her drugs, and that the Devil marked her scalp with the numbers “666”. She believed people were after her and felt the only way to protect her children was by killing them. She was convinced her children had to die before they were a lost cause. However, what healthy mother harms her children unless they have a mental defect. Yates was delusional and had hallucinations. She went on drugs and off drugs, affecting her thinking and ability to rationalize her situation. She started to believe she had no choice and knew her acts were wrong. However, how clear can her thoughts have been if she thought she was communicating with Satan? She was not mentally stable and, although she knew her acts were wrong, she was unable to fully rationalize her actions. To her, this was the only way of dealing with the situation she was presented with. Andrea has a mental illness, a very serious one. Postpartum psychosis affected her reasoning and thinking and this is what makes in need to the insanity plea.
