Yates found not guilty by reason of insanity in Texas drowning case News
Yates found not guilty by reason of insanity in Texas drowning case

[JURIST] A Texas jury Wednesday found Andrea Yates [Chronicle coverage] not guilty by reason of insanity of drowning her five children in 2001. Yates will now be committed to a Texas mental hospital and will undergo periodic hearings to determine whether she will be eligible for release. Yates' attorney argued that she suffered from severe postpartum psychosis [backgrounder], believing that Satan was inside her, and drowned her children to save them from going to hell.

Yates was convicted by another jury in 2002, but received a retrial when the Texas First Court of Appeals ruled [JURIST report] that false testimony by a state expert witness could have affected the judgment of the jury. AP has more. The Houston Chronicle has local coverage.