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Doc: Yates killing children was wrong

HOUSTON, July 18 (UPI) -- A psychiatrist for the prosecution alleges a Texas woman drowned her five children to prevent herself from failing as a mother.

Andrea Yates is accused in the deaths of her five children, ages 7, 5, 3, 2 and 6 months, at the family home near Clear Lake, Texas.

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Defense attorneys are trying to convince a jury that Yates was insane when she killed the children in 2001, the Houston Chronicle said Tuesday. Prosecutors say Yates knew right from wrong.

Dr. Michael Welner, a well-known forensic psychiatrist at the New York University School of Medicine, interviewed Yates earlier this year. He testified Tuesday that Yates felt overwhelmed with child care

"In my opinion Andrea Yates committed the crime to help herself, not her children," Welner said.

On cross-examination by defense attorney Wendell Odom, Welner also testified Yates was psychotic on the day of the drownings, the newspaper said.

If convicted, Yates will be sentenced to life in prison. If found not guilty by reason of insanity, she would be placed in a mental hospital.

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