Yates case, law homework help

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DUE SATURDAY 11/26/16 BY 9PM EASTERN STANDARD TIME AT THE LATEST

THE PURPOSE OF THIS ASSIGNMENT IS TO EXPAND COMMENT ETC - IT IS NOT AN ASSIGNMENT WHERE YOU POINT OUT GRAMMATICAL ERRORS AND WHAT NOT. ANY FACTS SHOULD BE CITED.

MIN 350 WORD COUNT FOR EACH POST

BLUEBOOK CITATIONS, FOOTNOTES ETC

THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT POSTS I WILL ATTACH FOR YOU TO RESPOND TO FOR THE ASSIGNMENT


HERE IS THE TOPIC GIVEN WITH THE ORIGINAL QUESTION-

QUESTION: Was Yates insane? Does her (ex) husband bear any responsibility in the crime? Why or why not? Remember to cite all sources in Bluebook format.

Education and Achievements:

Andrea (Kennedy) Yates was born on July 2, 1964 in Houston, Tex. She graduated from Milby High School in Houston in 1982. She was the class valedictorian, captain of the swim team and an officer in the National Honor Society. She completed a two-year pre-nursing program at the University of Houston and then graduated in 1986 from the University of Texas School of Nursing in Houston. She worked as a registered nurse at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center from 1986 until 1994.

Andrea Meets Rusty Yates:

Andrea and Rusty Yates, both 25, met at their apartment complex in Houston. Andrea, who was usually reserved, initiated the conversation. Andrea had never dated anyone until she turned 23 and prior to meeting Rusty she was healing from a broken relationship. They eventually moved in together and spent much of their time involved in religious study and prayer. They were married on April 17, 1993. They shared with their guests that they planned on having as many children as nature provided.

Andrea Called Herself "Fertile Myrtle":

In their eight years of marriage, the Yates had five children; four boys and one girl. Andrea stopped jogging and swimming when she became pregnant with her second child. Friends say that she became reclusive. The decision to home-school the children seemed to feed her isolation.

The Yates Children:

Feb. 26, 1994 – Noah Yates, Dec. 12, 1995 - John Yates, Sept. 13, 1997 - Paul Yates, Feb. 15, 1999 - Luke Yates, and on Nov. 30, 2000 - Mary Yates was the last child to be born.

Their Living Conditions:

Rusty accepted work in Florida in 1996 and the family moved into a 38-foot travel trailer in Seminole, FL While in Florida, Andrea got pregnant, but miscarried. In 1997 they returned to Houston and lived in their trailer because Rusty wanted to "live light." The next year. Rusty decided to purchase a 350-square-foot, renovated bus which became their permanent home. Luke was born bringing the number of children to four. Living conditions were cramped and Andrea's insanity began to surface.

Michael Woroniecki:

Michael Woroniecki was a traveling minister from whom Rusty purchased their bus and whose religious views had influenced both Rusty and Andrea. Rusty only agreed with some of Woroniecki's ideas but Andrea embraced the extremist sermons. He preached, "the role of women is derived from the sin of Eve and that bad mothers who are going to hell create bad children who will go to hell." Andrea was so totally captivated by Woroniecki that Rusty and Andrea's family grew concerned.

Andrea’s First Suicide Attempt :

On June 16 1999, Andrea called Rusty and begged him to come home. He found her shaking involuntarily and chewing on her fingers. The next day, she was hospitalized after she tried to commit suicide by taking an overdose of pills. She was transferred to the Methodist Hospital psychiatric unit and diagnosed with a major depressive disorder. The medical staff described Andrea as evasive in discussing her problems. However, on June 24 she was prescribed an antidepressant and released.

Spiraling Downward:

Once home, Andrea did not take the medication and as a result she began to self mutilate and refused to feed her children because she felt they were eating too much. She thought there were video cameras in the ceilings and said that the characters on television were talking to her and the children. She told Rusty about the hallucinations, yet neither of them informed Andrea's psychiatrist, Dr. Starbranch. On July 20, Andrea put a knife to her neck and begged her husband to let her die.

Warned About the Risks of Having More Babies :

Andrea was again hospitalized and stayed in a catatonic state for 10 days. After being treated with an injection of different drugs that included Haldol, an anti-psychotic drug, her condition immediately improved. Rusty was optimistic about the drug therapy because Andrea appeared more like the person he first met. Dr. Starbranch warned the Yates that having another baby might bring on more episodes of psychotic behavior. Andrea was placed on out-patient care and prescribed Haldol.

New Hopes for the Future :

Andrea's family urged Rusty to buy a home instead of returning Andrea to the cramped space of the bus. He purchased a nice home in a peaceful neighborhood. Once in her new home, Andrea's condition improved to the point that she returned to past activities like swimming, cooking and some socializing. She was also interacting well with her children. She expressed to Rusty that she had strong hopes for the future but still viewed her life on the bus as her failure.

The Tragic End:

In March of 2000, Andrea, on Rusty's urging, became pregnant and stopped taking the Haldol. On November 30, 2000, Mary was born. Andrea was coping but on March 12, her father died and immediately her mental state digressed. She stopped talking, refused liquids, mutilated herself, and would not feed Mary. She also frantically read the Bible.

By the end of March Andrea returned to a different hospital. Her psychiatrist, Dr. Mohammed Saeed, treated her briefly with Haldol but discontinued it, saying that she did not did not seem psychotic. Andrea was released only to return again in May. She was released in 10 days and in her last follow-up visit with Saeed, she was told to think positive thoughts and to see a psychologist.

Two days later, Rusty left for work and before his mother arrived to help, Andrea began to put into action the thoughts that had consumed her for two years.

Andrea filled the tub with water and beginning with Paul, she systematically drowned the three youngest boys, then placed them on her bed and covered them. Mary was left floating in the tub. The last child alive was the first born, seven-year-old Noah. He asked his mother what was wrong with Mary, then turned and ran away. Andrea caught up with him and as he screamed, she dragged him and forced him into the tub next to Mary's floating body. He fought desperately, coming up for air twice, but Andrea held him down until he was dead. Leaving Noah in the tub, she brought Mary to the bed and laid her in the arms of her brothers.

During Andrea's confession she explained her actions by saying that she wasn't a good mother and that the children were "not developing correctly" and she needed to be punished.

Her controversial trial lasted three weeks. The jury found Andrea guilty of capital murder, but rather then recommending the death penalty, they voted for life in prison. At the age of 77, in the year 2041, Andrea will be eligible for parole.

Source: Charles Montaldo, Profile of Andrea Yates, crime.about.com, http://crime.about.com/od/current/p/andreayates.ht... (last visited March 10, 2010).


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JOSE POST QUESTION: Was Yates insane? Does her (ex) husband bare any responsibility in the crime? Why or why not? I believe that Andrea Yates was insane at the time of the murders of her five children. To substantiate this, we must first see what the criteria is for determining if someone is insane or not. The State of Texas “uses a form of the M’Naughten test” to determines someone’s sanity. [1] The M’Naughten Rule defines insanity if the subject was “laboring under such a defect of reason from disease of the mind as not to know the nature and quality of the act he (or she) was doing, or if he did know it, that he did not know when he was doing was wrong.” [1] There must be certain acts or beliefs as well to deem someone as being insane and not being able to care for themselves or to be a danger to others. Andrea Yates in “June of 1999 tried to commit suicide by taking an overdose of pills” and she was subsequently “diagnosed with a major depressive disorder.” [2] This act of overdosing alone would give law enforcement or a doctor the ability to deem Andrea Yates as not being able to care for herself and they could commit her to a 72-hour hold for a psychiatric evaluation. Andrea Yates was also delusional and seeing and hearing things that were not there. Andrea began to “self-mutilate and refused to feed her children because she felt they were eating too much.” [2] Andrea said she say “video cameras in the ceiling” and that the “characters on television were talking to her and the children.” [2] Andrea also “put a knife to her neck” and she pleaded with “her husband to let her die.” (Montaldo, 2002) All of these acts and hallucinations show that Andrea Yates was not in full control of her faculties and she was obviously insane due to the commission of numerous acts that a person in their right mind would never do. While in jail, Andrea said she had “considered killing the children for two years.” [3] Andrea felt this way because “she had not been a good mother to them” and that “they (their children) were not developing correctly.” [3] Andrea felt that her children had been “marked by Satan” and that the only way she could save them “from hell was to kill them.” [3] Andrea felt that this would “ensure the death of Satan, who would be killed when she was given the death penalty.” [4] Andrea also said she saw “Satanic teddy bears and ducks on the walls of the jail.” [3] Even though Andrea states that she basically had been planning (considering) killing her children for two years, it can’t be deemed as premeditation due to her severe mental deficiencies. Andrea’s intent was not to kill her children but, to “save the children from hell.” [3] As far as she was concerned, this was the right thing to do as her children “would be spared her influence and instead go to heaven.” [4] Since she didn’t know the “difference between right and wrong, due to her disease of the mind,” she felt that killing her children was actually a good thing since she was saving them as far as she was concerned. [3] I believe that Andrea Yates’ husband, Rusty Yates, has some responsibility for the killings of their children. After her suicide attempt and her psychiatric diagnosis, Andrea had informed Rusty about hallucinations she was having but, “neither of them informed Andrea’s psychiatrist” of these. [2] Rusty also “urged Andrea to stop taking the Haldol” after she became pregnant once again. [2] He did this even after Andrea showed improvement in her mental condition after being “prescribed the Haldol.” [2] Any change in Andrea’s mental health should have been reported to her psychiatrist by either or both Andrea and Rusty Yates. They should have consulted both her doctor and psychiatrist as well once she became pregnant again to see if she should continue taking Haldol or possibly some other different medication to cope with her mental issues. References [1] Meier, Eileen. Andrea Yates: Where did we go wrong?, Pediatric Nursing28.3 (May/Jun 2002): 296-7, 299. [2] Montaldo, Charles. Profile of Andrea Yates, crime.about.com, http://crime.about.com/od/current/p/andreayates.htm (last visited May 21, 2014). [3] McLellan, Faith. Mental health and justice: the case of Andrea Yates, The Lancet368.9551 (Dec 2-Dec 8, 2006): 1951-4. [4] Hyman, Rebecca. Medea of Suburbia: Andrea Yates, Maternal Infanticide, and the Insanity Defense, Women's Studies Quarterly32.3/4 (Fall 2004): 192-210. BUCK POST When I looked at this case the first thing I thought of was what can make a mother decide to take all her children and drown them. When reading this article I thought about the last child the oldest how he must have fought as hard as he could. I couldn’t imagine as a father myself the idea of anyone hurting my children let alone their own mother. As for Andrea and her mental status I do believe that she was not mentally stable however, I don’t believe it went so far as to be a criminal defense and I believe the husband does bare some liability for the crime. As I have with my other posts I believe the first thing we need to look at is the Florida State Code in reference to insanity. According to the code in order to be deemed incompetent to stand trial there must first be an examination by Mental health experts appointed pursuant to s. 916.115 shall first determine whether the defendant has a mental illness and, if so, consider the factors related to the issue of whether the defendant meets the criteria for competence to proceed as described in subsection (1). A defendant must be evaluated by no fewer than two experts before the court commits the defendant or takes other action authorized by this chapter or the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, except if one expert finds that the defendant is incompetent to proceed and the parties stipulate to that finding, the court may commit the defendant or take other action authorized by this chapter or the rules without further evaluation or hearing, or the court may appoint no more than two additional experts to evaluate the defendant. Notwithstanding any stipulation by the state and the defendant, the court may require a hearing with testimony from the expert or experts before ordering the commitment of a defendant.[1] In the case of Andrea while she may not have been completely mentally stable she obviously knew what she did was wrong when she stated that she was a bad mother and had to be punished. This would make me believe she knew the actions she took were not what a mother should do. I believe she would be mentally capable to stand trial. In regards to the husbands liability again let’s look at the state code for being an accessory. According to this section of code it shows Any person who maintains or assists the principal or accessory before the fact, or gives the offender any other aid, knowing that the offender had committed the offense of child abuse, neglect of a child, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child under 18 years of age, or murder of a child under 18 years of age, or had been an accessory thereto before the fact, with the intent that the offender avoids or escapes detection, arrest, trial, or punishment, is an accessory after the fact unless the court finds that the person is a victim of domestic violence.[2] When you look at his actions he decided to leave the house before his mother had arrived to help with the children but he did not attempt to hide her or help her flee the police after the murders. Therefore I do not believe that legally there would be an option for a prosecutor to charge. In a court of law there is little room for emotions to play out. When you see a crime such as this one where you as a parent or even as a human are very emotional about the event it’s hard to believe that it could happen and you want all those involved to be punished. However, it’s not what you believe happened, or what you know happened, it’s completely about what you can prove happened. In this case the prosecution could prove that 5 children were killed by their mother. I believe the jury’s decision to go with life instead of the death penalty meant they took the mothers illness into consideration. [1] FL State Code §916.12 [2] FL State Code § 777.03
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Explanation & Answer

Here we go buddy. The first post was almost complete, very comprehensive but I added a few citations. On Buck's post, which to me is the right position, I have made several contributions and added more citations.

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Jose post
QUESTION: Was Yates insane? Does her (ex) husband bare any responsibility in
the crime? Why or why not?
I believe that Andrea Yates was insane at the time of the murders of her five
children and that the insanity which relieved her from criminal responsibility. To
substantiate this, we must first see what the criteria are for determining if someone is
insane or not. The State of Texas “uses a form of the M’Naughten test” to determines
someone’s sanity. The M’Naughten Rule defines insanity if the subject was “laboring
under such a defect of reason from disease of the mind as not to know the nature and
quality of the act he (or she) was doing, or if he did know it, that he did not know when
he was doing was wrong (Meier).”
There must be certain acts or beliefs as well to deem someone as being insane and
not being able to care for themselves or to be a danger to others. Andrea Yates in “June
of 1999 tried to commit suicide by taking an overdose of pills” and she was subsequently
“diagnosed with a major depressive disorder.” This act of overdosing alone would give
law enforcement or a doctor the ability to deem Andrea Yates as not being able to care
for herself and they could commit her to a 72-hour hold for a psychiatric evaluation.

Andrea Yates was also delusional and seeing and hearing things that were not
there. Andrea began to “self-mutilate and refused to feed her children because she felt
they were eating too much.” Andrea said she say “video cameras in the ceiling” and that
the “characters on television were talking to her and the children.” Andrea also “put a
knife to her neck” and she pleaded with “her husband to let her die”. The insanity had let
her to believe that she was only answerable to her religious master and not any other law.
The act was the result of her mental disease which prevented her from knowing the
nature and quality of the act and that it was wrongful. All of these acts and hallucinations
show that Andr...


Anonymous
Really great stuff, couldn't ask for more.

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