STATE OF TEXAS v. ANDREA YATES

1
STATE OF TEXAS v. ANDREA YATES

• Exhibits to the redirect testimony of
• Park Dietz, MD, PhD

2
Testimony About Hallucinations in Prior Proceeding

• The only data that could be mistaken for evidence
  of any hallucination before the drownings was Dr.
  Thompsons assistants interpretation of Mrs.
  Yates statement about hearing a voice and having
  a vision in her mind about a knife
• Mrs. Yates indicated to me she did not hear a
  voice, but had thoughts and fears
• This was not a hallucination, but an obsession
• I could find no credible evidence of any
  hallucination prior to the drownings

.
3
Question in Prior Proceeding

• Would you explain to the jury the significance
  of this interview in relation to the knowledge of
  wrongfulness, at least in the pre-homicide phase
  of your evaluation?

4
Answer in Prior Proceeding

• Well, the first point is that Mrs. Yates
  indicates that at that time before the homicide
  she had the idea of killing her children and she
  attributed the origin of that idea to Satan. So,
  of course, the idea comes from her mind, but
  she's mistakenly thinking Satan put it there.
  The fact that she regards it as coming from Satan
  is the first indication of her knowing that this
  is wrong. Because she recognizes even the idea
  of killing your children is an evil idea that
  comes from Satan. She doesn't think this is a
  good idea that comes from God. She thinks it's
  an evil idea that comes from Satan and she
  thought it was Satan who was somehow urging or
  encouraging or recommending that she do this.
  So she knows already it's a bad idea.

5
Additional Information

• Mrs. Yates denied hearing any voices before her
  arrest with Dr. Welner, too
• Mrs. Yates herself wanted to correct the false
  press reports that she had acted on orders from
  Satan
• Mrs. Yates wrote to one of her pen pals about the
  difference between the thoughts and images she
  had before the drownings and the voices she heard
  the first days she was in jail

6
Before the Drownings

• Mrs. Yates considered her obsessive thoughts of
  and impulses to harm her children bad thoughts,
  for which she blamed Satan
• For weeks, she concealed from everyone her
  thoughts of harming the children and her plan to
  drown the children
• She made up her mind the evening of June 19th to
  drown the children the next day D
• She had no visions of drowning the children
  she agreed it was just an idea W-4

Cont.
7
Before the Drownings (cont.)

• She tried to behave as normally as possible so
  Rusty wouldnt know anything unusual was
  happening
• She waited for an opportunity when no one was
  home so that she would not be stopped from
  drowning the children
• She believed that killing the children would be
  sinful and would be the last of the Seven Deadly
  Sins for her to commit
• She believed she was not raising the children
  properly, did not pay enough attention to them,
  and that they might get in trouble

Cont.
8
Before the Drownings (cont.)

• She believed that killing the children would
  guarantee that they go to heaven and prevent them
  from one day becoming unrighteous, criminal, a
  burden on the state, or vulnerable to Satan, and
  for these reasons thought it was right for the
  children E
• She did not believe that the children were
  already suffering at the hands of Satan but
  rather from lack of guidance (reported to Dr.
  Resnick)

9
During the Drownings

• Knew she would be arrested and put in jail
• Knew her conduct was illegal
• Knew society would judge her conduct as bad F
• Believed God would judge her conduct as bad

Cont.
10
During the Drownings

• Felt the presence of Satan during the
  drownings, but did not think he was in her
  until after her arrest G
• Anticipated being punished by the state W-3
• Acted with determination to accomplish her plan
  of drowning each child before Dora arrived

Cont.
11
During the Drownings (cont.)

• Found it most difficult to drown Paul and Noah
  and tried to numb myself to it W-9
• At the time of the drownings, she had doubt
  whether killing her children was the right thing
  for them (reported to Dr. Resnick 7/14/01)

.
12
After the Drownings

• Called 911 and asked for the police because
  thats who you call . . . when youve done
  something wrong, and she thought she had done
  something wrong
• Called the police quickly because she wanted them
  to arrive before Dora did because I didnt want
  her to see what I had done
• Told Sgt. Mehl she was prepared to go to hell for
  what she had done

Cont.
13
After the Drownings (cont.)

• Told Sgt. Mehl she wanted to be punished by the
  criminal justice system for what she had done and
  asked when her trial would be
• After her psychosis worsened in solitary
  confinement in jail, Mrs. Yates for a time
  believed her execution would kill Satan and that
  the killings had something to do with a prophecy