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CNN Live At Daybreak

Testimony in Andrea Yates Trial Begins Today

Aired February 18, 2002 - 05:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Defense attorneys face a big challenge in the capital murder trial of Andrea Yates. Her lawyers must show the Houston mother suffered from a severe mental disease or defect that prevented her from knowing right from wrong when she killed her five children. And as I just said, testimony does begin this morning in the trial of Andrea Yates, who's accused of drowning her five kids in the bathtub.

The 37-year-old Houston woman faces two capital murder charges in the deaths of three of her five children. The children ranged in age from seven years to six months. Defense attorneys say Yates is not guilty by reason of insanity. If found guilty, Yates could face the death penalty or life in prison. So the question, did Andrea Yates know the difference between right and wrong when she drowned her children?

CNN's Ed Lavandera looks at Yates' mental health struggles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In September of 1998, Andrea Yates appeared fully enrapt in the happiness of motherhood.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I know her as a very compassionate and caring mother, a very creative person.

RUSSELL YATES: That creativity came to life on every child's birthday.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: John wanted a lion cake and Andrea actually made one. This is terrific, I think.

LAVANDERA: Elaborate caked that Russell Yates considered works of art. This is the woman he knows to be his wife and the mother of their five children.

(on camera): After Russell and Andrea started having kids, Russell says they decided they didn't want to feel so tied down, that they wanted to enjoy more of a nomadic lifestyle. So for a couple of years they lived in this R.V. park and also lived in a modified bus. But Russell Yates takes exception with those people who think that lifestyle led Andrea Yates to drown their five children.

ANDREA YATES: He chases us around the house now. Come on.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): In several hours of off camera interviews with Russell Yates, he says Andrea first showed signs of post-partum depression four months after the birth of their fourth child, Luke, in 1999.

ANDREA YATES: Luke! Luke! Can you say hi. Hi.

LAVANDERA: She entered a psychiatric hospital. Medical records indicate Andrea tried to commit suicide and had visions of a knife stabbing someone. She also started taking a cocktail of powerful anti-psychotic medication. Two months later she's allowed to leave the hospital. But no one says she's completely cured and one doctor writes, "Patient and husband plan to have as many babies as nature will allow. This will surely guarantee future psychotic depression."

But Russell says over time Andrea's condition improved and more than a year later, in November of 2000...

RUSSELL YATES: We have a new edition to our family. This is our little girl that was born today.

LAVANDERA: Mary would be the Yates' fifth child and first girl. Russell says four months later symptoms of post-partum psychosis returned again and Andrea returned for another round of hospital treatments. But Russell says a misdiagnosis by her last doctor, Mohammed Saaed (ph), kept her from overcoming the demons within. Dr. Saeed won't comment, but Andrea was released after three months.

Twenty-nine days after going home, the Yates children died at the hands of their mother, leaving Russell Yates alone to figure out what went wrong.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Houston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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