Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Andrea Yates Arraigned on Capital Murder Charges
Aired August 08, 2001 - 11:01 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going go ahead and start in Houston, where Andrea Yates was arraigned last hour on capital murder charges. She's accused of drowning her five children in the family bathtub. Today her attorney claimed Yates is mentally ill and not able to face judgment.
CNN's Ed Lavandera is watching the proceedings in Houston -- Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.
This hearing ended about half an hour ago. Two new developments to pass along to you. The judge, the defense team for Andrea Yates about a month ago requested a competency hearing. Essentially what they want is they want a Houston jury to determine whether or not Andrea Yates is capable of or fit enough to stand trial. The judge this morning has approved that request and in the next couple of weeks a jury will start hearing evidence, medical evidence from experts that have interviewed Andrea Yates over the last couple of weeks and a jury will have to decide whether or not Andrea Yates is competent enough to stand trial.
The second development, as well, is that Andrea Yates has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the two capital murder indictments that have been filed against her. Those indictments were filed last week for the murders of her, of the two oldest boys and the six-month- old girl, whose name is Mary.
Andrea Yates did not speak in this morning's hearing. George Parnham, her attorney, spoke on her behalf. He was the one who told the judge that she would be pleading not guilty by reason of insanity. Andrea Yates walked into the courtroom this morning and never looked at her husband, Russell Yates, who was sitting in the front row in the courtroom with his mother. Andrea Yates never looked his way, just sat there and looked at the judge the entire time and then when she walked out of the courtroom, again, never really looking Russell Yates' way.
And also, the video that you're seeing, a gag order has been placed on this case so that has made getting information as to exactly what the proceedings will happen and what will take place from here on out, it makes it a little more difficult to obtain. But Andrea Yates is returning to a Harris County jail, where she is under, still under the observation of psychiatric experts -- Daryn. KAGAN: Ed, I realize information is scarce there with the gag order, but can you explain why is it two capital murder charges, since five children died?
LAVANDERA: Initially when the prosecutors were able to answer questions from reporters, they said that by bunching the capital murder indictments in these groups, for example, the two oldest boys in one capital murder indictment and then the youngest girl in the other capital murder indictment, that that would leave them more legal options down the road for, in essence, that if they don't like what comes out of these proceedings that they still have two other indictments that they could pursue.
That was the comments that we were told several weeks ago and as far as we know, that still stands today.
KAGAN: Interesting.
Thank you very much, Ed Lavandera in Houston. Appreciate it.
The insanity defense has roots in Victorian England. I guess we'll -- all right, are we going to do that story? OK, it has -- we'll go to Leon.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, no you were beginning to say about the insanity defense and its roots is actually in Victorian England, not here in the U.S., believe it or not.
And CNN's Anne McDermott has this quick history lesson on it for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNE MCDERMOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Is Charles Manson crazy? How about legally insane? Well, who knows? He didn't use that as a defense in his trial. Surprised? Don't be. It's used in less than one percent of all cases.
DANIEL N. ROBINSON, INSANITY DEFENSE EXPERT: The insanity defense is rarely used and, in fact, it fails more often than it succeeds.
MCDERMOTT: It failed for Jeffrey Dahmer, even though this was a man who had sex with corpses, dined on human flesh and was a killer as well. It all comes down to the definition of insanity. In ancient times, to be insane was to act like a wild beast. Then in London, in 1843, Daniel Minotin (ph) was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, establishing the Minotin Rule, which requires that a defendant doesn't know what he's doing or if he does know, he doesn't know it's wrong.
That worked for the wealthy Harry Faw (ph), who shot the lover of his showgirl wife back in the early 1900s. Faw went to a mental institution for seven years. Wisconsin killer Ed Dean (ph) also plead not guilty by reason of insanity in the 1950s and was institutionalized for the rest of his life. The quiet farmhand is mostly forgotten today. But his grave robbing and gruesome murders live on in "The Silence of the Lambs." He was the inspiration for a serial killer in that film, as well as the inspiration for a certain motel clerk in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho."
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: We all go a little mad sometimes.
MCDERMOTT: John Wayne Gacey did go a little mad, it seemed. But the world's creepiest clown couldn't convince a jury he was legally insane when he killed 33 people and he was later executed. Then John Hinckley Jr. came along and things changed. He was found not guilty of shooting President Reagan by reason of insanity and everyone said he got away with murder, or close to it. But did he?
PROF. NORMAN GARLAND, SOUTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW: The fact is that people found not guilty by reason of insanity, except in the most infrequent of cases, are serving time in a mental institution up to double what they would have if they had been found guilty originally.
MCDERMOTT: Hinckley was sent to a mental institution 19 years ago. He's still there. But Hinckley's real legacy is tougher standards for the insanity defense. Not that all that many try to use it. The Son of Sam serial killer didn't. John Lennon's killer didn't. And, of course, he didn't.
Anne McDermott, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
