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American Morning

Andrea Yates Found Guilty of Two Counts of Capital Murder

Aired March 13, 2002 - 07:02   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Up front this morning, though, the verdict is in. Andrea Yates, the Texas mother who drowned her five children, is found guilty of two counts of capital murder. Taking little time to reach their unanimous verdict, jurors yesterday deliberated for a little less than four hours before rejecting the insanity defense offered by her attorneys. Now the jury has to decide whether she should pay for the crimes with her life.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Houston. He has been following the trial from the very beginning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the snapshot in time Russell Yates has dreaded for almost nine months, the moment he would walk into a downtown jail and face his wife as the convicted murderer of their five children. After meeting with Andrea, Russell Yates kept his thoughts to himself.

RUSSELL YATES: Well, I said that I don't really want to talk about it now.

LAVANDERA: Jury members never looked at Andrea Yates when they filed into the courtroom just moments before this...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We the jury find the defendant, Andrea Pia Yates, guilty of capital murder as charged in the indictment.

LAVANDERA: When those words settled over the court chamber, Russell Yates' head fell into his hands and he said, "Oh my god." When Yates left the courtroom, he added in disgust, "Unbelievable."

GEORGE PARNHAM, YATES' DEFENSE ATTORNEY: As you can imagine, it's a devastating time and extremely disappointing and emotionally taken its toll.

LAVANDERA: Andrea Yates told her attorney she was willing to accept whatever punishment god sent her way. She's described as very upset. Her attorneys are stunned by the quick deliberation.

QUESTION: Three and a half hours of deliberations, were you shocked by that?

WILLIAM ODOM, YATES' DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, we would liked to have thought that we were in the hunt and that is discouraging.

LAVANDERA: A dozen psychiatric experts said Andrea Yates could not have known right from wrong when she drowned her five children. It seems that wasn't enough for the jury to look beyond her own words, when she confessed to police and said she knew her actions were wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thinking to Andrea and then remembering the children.

LAVANDERA: Her supporters fear the next phase of the trial, when the jury decides if Yates spends life in prison or is sentenced to death. Until that moment, the Yates family finds solace among friends.

PARNHAM: It seems to me that we're still back in the days of Salem witchcraft when you take a demonized woman and take a life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: The court will be closed for today and they will return tomorrow for the sentencing phase of this trial. And defense attorneys will begin putting on witnesses and family members, which include Russell Yates, who will testify and speak to this jury and try to convince this jury of eight women and four men to spare Andrea Yates from the death penalty -- Paula.

ZAHN: So, Ed, you've just mentioned that all gets under way tomorrow. If the jury opts for a life in prison sentence, what will the prison options be for Andrea Yates?

LAVANDERA: Well, she could, if she is sentenced to life in prison, she won't be eligible for parole for at least 40 years. That's law here in Texas. She will be sent to a prison unit for women that has a psychiatric unit in it just outside of Waco, Texas. If she's convicted to death and sentenced to the death penalty, there's a prison, women's death row is in Gatesville, which is near Waco, as well, and that's where she will be sent, where seven women are on death row in Texas, two of which have been convicted of murdering their own children -- Paula.

ZAHN: All right, Ed, thanks for that live update. Appreciate it so much.

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