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American Morning

Texas Child Killings: Andrea Yates Appears in Court

Aired June 22, 2001 - 10:13   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Less than two hours ago, 36-year-old Andrea Yates walked into a Houston courtroom and she came face-to-face with a brutal reality. The suburban housewife is charged with the systematic drowning of her five children.

CNN's Jeff Flock is in Houston covering the story for us -- Jeff.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Miles, another perhaps inexplicable crime about which there will be, no doubt, much debate about what the appropriate punishment is.

Andrea Pia Yates, 36 years old, did come to this courthouse that perhaps you see behind me. She is now back in her cell here in downtown Houston. But making that appearance before Judge Belinda Hill and revealing that she does not have an attorney. We can take a look at that appearance now: Ms. Yates with the long hair, perhaps her back to camera visible. So a court-appointed attorney was named. His name is Bob Scott. And he is a public defender here in Houston.

Perhaps you heard her husband yesterday indicate that they were going to try find an attorney. Well, perhaps they have not done so well. So Mr. Scott, for at least the interim, will be representing Ms. Yates.

I talked to, after the appearance this morning, to Joe Owmby. He is one of the local prosecutors here, perhaps the man who will ultimately prosecute this case. And he will make the recommendation to the elected prosecutor here in Harris County in Houston, Texas about what to do about this case. And he said that he considers this the most horrific case he has ever seen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE OWMBY, PROSECUTOR: I say that now. But every one that I was involved in was most horrific. But this -- I mean, we have five children at the morgue. I've never seen anything like this.

FLOCK: In your gut, is this the kind of case that the death penalty was designed for?

OWMBY: I can't say that now. The death penalty, in the way it's applied in Texas, depends on the crime, the individual, on the combination of all that and justice. And I can't say that the crime alone is the determining factor. (END VIDEO CLIP)

FLOCK: Whatever the determining factors, Mr. Owmby will spend the next 30 days figuring that out and then make a recommendation to Chuck Rosenthal, who is the elected prosecutor here in this county, about whether or not to pursue the death penalty for Ms. Yates.

I'm Jeff Flock, CNN, reporting live from Houston.

O'BRIEN: All right, thanks to Jeff on tough story there.

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