HOUSTON, March 14 (UPI) -- Andrea Yates' mother and four other family members urged a Houston jury Thursday to spare her life in the penalty phase of her trial for drowning her children.
Jutta Karin Kennedy, 73, was one of 11 witnesses called by the defense in the punishment phase after prosecutors said they would not call any. The eight-woman, four-man jury convicted Yates, 37, of capital murder Tuesday.
"I am here pleading for her life," Kennedy said, tears in her eyes. "I have lost seven people in one year."
Kennedy referred to the loss of her five grandchildren, her husband's death a year ago this week, and the prospect that she might lose her daughter to life in prison or a lethal injection.
Witnesses were repeatedly asked if Yates was prone to violence and whether there were mitigating factors that would warrant her receiving a life sentence, two critical questions the jury must address in deliberation.
Russell Yates, Andrea's husband, said his wife had never been prone to any sort of violence unless her suicide attempt with a knife was considered violence.
"She's the kindest, most caring person I know," he said, wiping tears from his eyes. "She was always concerned about the kids safety."
Yates brother, Patrick Kennedy, her mother-in-law, Dora Yates, and her aunt, Rev. Fairy Caroland, also testified in her behalf as well as four longtime friends.
Dr. Lucy Puryear, a Houston psychiatrist who examined Yates, testified that she was not any threat to society.
"The symptoms that Mrs. Yates had, that I observed, were triggered by the birth of her children," she said. "If she has no further children, and stays on her medication, I think she'll have no trouble."
Joe Lovelace, an attorney and past president of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, said the Texas prison system has "an effective and advanced system to assess mental illness" if Yates is sentenced to life in prison.
The court then recessed until 9 a.m. Friday because two witnesses the defense wanted to call were not available. The attorneys also discussed some questions regarding her instructions to the jury, which is expected to begin deliberation Friday.
The jurors deliberated less than four hours Tuesday before they convicted Yates on two counts of capital murder in the deaths of Noah, 7, John, 5, and Mary, 6 months. Prosecutors did not file charges in the deaths of Paul, 3, and Luke, 2, for strategic reasons in case they had to bring more charges.
The jury rejected the insanity defense offered by Yates' attorneys, which consumed most of the three and a half week's of testimony. Both sides agreed the mother was mentally ill, but disagreed on whether she was legally insane when she drowned her five children June 20 at their Houston home.
Under Texas law, the defense had to prove to the jury that she was insane because she had pleaded innocent by reason of insanity. They had to show that Yates was so mentally disturbed that she didn't know it was wrong to drown her five children.
During the three hours and 40 minutes of deliberation, the jury only asked for a few exhibits, a definition of insanity, and a tape recorder, apparently to play the tape of the 911 call Yates made to police after she had drowned the children.
In the punishment phase, the jurors will have to first determine if Yates is a potential danger to society. If they answer "yes" unanimously, then they go to a mitigation question. If 10 or more jurors say "no," then she gets life in prison.
In answering the second question, the jurors must determine if there are mitigating factors of character or background that warrant a life sentence rather than death. If they answer "no" unanimously, the jury recommends a death sentence. If 10 of more jurors say "yes," then she receives a life sentence.
The jury will recommend the punishment to State District Judge Belinda Hill and she will pronounce the sentence. If they come back deadlocked, another jury is called to determine punishment in the case.
If Yates is sentenced to life she would serve at least 40 years before becoming eligible for parole, a factor the jury may be told if the defense requests it.
Neil McCabe, a professor of criminal law at the South Texas College of Law, said there is no data to indicate how a Texas jury might find in this trial because there are so few cases where mothers face the death penalty for killing their children.
"There are mothers killing their kids but the government doesn't seek the death penalty that often," he said.
There are only seven women awaiting the death sentence in Texas compared to 445 men, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. But Harris County, where Houston is located, has sent more killers to death row than any other U.S. county.
The female death row inmates are held at the newly renovated Mountain View prison at Gatesville. There are 12 death row cells, each 14 feet in length and 6 feet in width. The men are held at a prison in Livingston, hundreds of miles away.
If Yates gets a life sentence she would serve it at another maximum-security prison for women in Gatesville, which is about 30 miles west of Waco in central Texas
