May be it's your understanding that's "limited," rather the
columnists? Because I found over 180 related articles
that say exactly what was in the article posted earlier....
There another one for you from a different columnist......
Yates' Jail Time Not Quite Done
by Peggy O'Hare, Polly Ross Hughes
peggy.ohare@
chron.com
polly.hughes@
chron.com
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/4077995.html
Houston
Now that a jury has declared Andrea Yates wasn't sane when she drowned her five
children, her attorneys can't get her out of the Harris County Jail fast enough.
Just 24 hours after jurors found Yates not guilty by reason of insanity, her
attorneys were already working feverishly to get her moved from the county's downtown
lockup to a state mental hospital.
Yates will be moved to North Texas State Hospital's maximum-security campus in Vernon
in the coming days, but the exact timing of the move must be determined by the Harris
County Sheriff's Office and hospital officials.
Yates' family also is eager for her to be out of jail.
"I know we can't expect her to be released," said her 77-year-old mother, Karin
Kennedy, "but it's the next-best thing."
Once Yates arrives in Vernon - about 50 miles northwest of Wichita Falls - she will
be given an individual treatment plan that determines her level of activity and
whether she sleeps in a room with up to five other patients or only one other,
depending on her need for social stimulation.
Patients in Vernon are never segregated in isolated quarters, as Yates was in her
first days at the prison system's Skyview psychiatric unit, said hospital spokesman
Jerry McLain.
"We're involved in getting the patients well," he said. "We're looking at the idea of
a hospital to get sick people well rather than it being any kind of punitive
situation."
Yates will join nearly 350 other patients at the relatively isolated hospital near
the Oklahoma border, which looks similar to a prison on the outside but more like a
college campus within its high-fenced borders, he said. Of the 270 adult patients,
only 38 are women.
If doctors diagnose Yates as schizophrenic, she is likely to receive treatment
involving both medication and counseling in groups and individually. She will also be
encouraged to connect with others socially.
If she progresses, she'll have access to fitness programs at the hospital gym and
outdoor activities including basketball, enclosed patio sitting areas and patient
cookouts.
The former nurse and Clear Lake housewife's evolution from inmate to hospital patient
began Thursday when state District Judge Belinda Hill signed an order of acquittal
based on the jury's verdict announced Wednesday.
Report due in 30 days
During a court hearing - at which Yates sat quietly, dressed in an orange Harris
County Jail inmate jumpsuit and tennis shoes - Hill ordered her transfer to the
Vernon hospital. The Harris County Sheriff's Office will take her there, but when
that happens has not been determined, said spokeswoman and Deputy Lisa Martinez.
Hill also ordered doctors at the Vernon facility to issue a report to her court
within 30 days, once they have evaluated Yates' mental state and whether she presents
a danger to herself or others.
Once that report is in hand, Hill will hold another hearing to determine whether
Yates, 42, meets the requirements for involuntary commitment and whether there is a
mental health plan in place to treat her illness.
If doctors decide Yates does not require maximum-security confinement, she could be
moved to Rusk State Hospital - which her attorneys prefer - without Hill having to
approve it.
Hill would be notified if such a transfer occurs.
After the hearing, Yates' attorneys and loved ones said they are eager for her to be
moved to a more rehabilitative type of environment.
Until she leaves Houston, she will remain on medication and continue being supervised
by Harris County Jail psychiatrist Debra Osterman, who consulted with Yates daily
during her trial, Odom said.
"I think it's painfully obvious she is not a danger to anybody," her other attorney,
George Parnham, said Thursday. "She's going to be in a mental health facility for a
very long period of time. ... I think Andrea will always be in need of some type of
mental health care.
"Andrea Yates is not coming back to Houston. I mean, let's face it."
Kennedy said her daughter seemed happier in the wake of the insanity verdict, but she
said they had not yet visited face to face. The mother and daughter were unable to
see each other Wednesday night because Yates' former husband, Russell Yates, went to
the jail to see her. County jail inmates are allowed only one visit per day, Martinez
said.
With her son, Andy Kennedy of Pearland, standing at her side, Kennedy said she hoped
to see her daughter Thursday night and would "just tell her I love her."
Meanwhile, Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal has not decided whether to
seek further prosecution against Yates for two of her children's deaths for which she
was not tried.
"I probably will not make that decision for quite a while," Rosenthal said Thursday.
Verdict applied to 3 deaths
The verdict applied to the deaths of three of Yates' children - Noah, 7; John, 5; and
Mary, 6 months. But Yates has not been tried in the deaths of 3-year-old Paul and
2-year-old Luke.
Even so, Yates' attorneys contend Rosenthal cannot pursue additional prosecution
because the state presented evidence of all five children's deaths during the recent
trial.
Prosecutors might have more room to proceed had they focused only on the three
drownings for which Yates was charged, but another trial specifically focusing on
Paul's and Luke's deaths would amount to double jeopardy, Odom said.
Legal experts say the insanity verdict could preclude prosecution or place an
insurmountable hurdle before prosecutors.
"It's an unusual situation," said Sandra Guerra Thompson, law professor at the
University of Houston Law Center.
Feeling of bitterness
Rosenthal acknowledged prosecutors would have to prove that Yates was sane if she
were to stand trial for the remaining deaths.
Kennedy said she could not contain her relief when she heard Wednesday's verdict.
"I started crying tears of joy. I couldn't hold it back. You can't hold it back, even
though the judge wanted you to. I was so surprised," she said.
She acknowledged feeling bitter that it took five years for Yates to be declared
insane.
Jurors deliberated for more than 13 hours spanning three days.
Yates drowned her five children in a bathtub at her Clear Lake-area home on June 20,
2001, after her husband left for work. The 1982 Milby High School valedictorian, who
had a history of psychiatric hospitalizations and two suicide attempts before the
drownings, was diagnosed with postpartum depression with psychotic features and
schizophrenia.
This was the second time Yates stood trial for three of her children's deaths. She
was previously convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison by another
jury in 2002, but an appeals court threw out that case because of erroneous testimony
from forensic psychiatrist Park Dietz, which was used to suggest Yates got the idea
for the drownings and her insanity defense from the TV program Law & Order.
Chronicle reporter Dale Lezon contributed to this report.
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I intend to last long enough to put out of business all COck-suckers
and other beneficiaries of the institutionalized slavery and genocide.
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"The army that will defeat terrorism doesn't wear uniforms, or drive
Humvees, or calls in air-strikes. It doesn't have a high command, or
high security, or a high budget. The army that can defeat terrorism
does battle quietly, clearing minefields and vaccinating children. It
undermines military dictatorships and military lobbyists. It subverts
sweatshops and special interests.Where people feel powerless, it
helps them organize for change, and where people are powerful, it
reminds them of their responsibility." ~~~~ Author Unknown ~~~~
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