A no-brainier

This should have been a no-brainier for the first jury. Andrea Yates is clearly mentally unstable. She may never be well enough to rejoin society, but she should not be in prison. Yates has been in her own private prison, now it's time she received the help she so desperately needed years ago.
-----------------------------------------------------------

Jury Finds Yates Not Guilty in Drownings

By ANGELA K. BROWN, Associated Press Writer
July 26, 2006

HOUSTON - Andrea Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity Wednesday in her second murder trial for the bathtub drownings of her young children.

Yates, 42, will now be committed to a state mental hospital, with periodic hearings before a judge to determine whether she should be released. An earlier jury had found her guilty of murder, but the verdict was overturned on appeal.

The defense never disputed that Yates drowned her five children one by one in the bathtub of their Houston-area home. But they said she suffered from severe postpartum psychosis and, in a delusional state, believed Satan was inside her and was trying to save them from hell.

Yates stared wide-eyed in court Wednesday as the verdict was read. She then bowed her head and wept quietly.

The children's father said the jury had reached the right conclusion. (full story)