As expected, Andrea Pia Yates was found GUILTY on both counts of Capital Murder for which she was tried in a Houston courtroom, and we are now one step closer to seeing the administration of justice through what will hopefully be the swift fast-tracking of an execution for this animal who passes herself off as a human being.

Attorney George Parnham

As expected, lead defense attorney George Parnham (right) predictably went on to equate the verdict as “a return to the Salem Witch Trials of 17th-Century America”. Please – spare me the hyperbole, counselor! We are not in that depth, sir. The fact is the evidence against your client was far beyond anyone’s ability to explain away.

Prosecutor Joe Owmby

That, and as good a lawyer as you are, you were simply outlawyered by lead prosecutor Joe Owmby (left), who with his team was simply brilliant in their presentation of the case of Texas v. Yates. The case was a slam-dunk going in, yet Owmby and Co. left nothing to chance. They had their ducks lined beak-to-tail, they took no chances and got themselves a conviction. Nice work, guys!

Now before anyone with a bleeding heart gets on their moralistic high horse and tells me that I am being a judgmental SOB or worse, let me set the record straight on something right now: I do have genuine compassion for those who suffer from mental illness in various forms and varying degrees of intensity. Part of the reason for this is because I have been taught all my life to be compassionate to all people and to take all factors into consideration before making an educated judgment when it comes to forming an opinion on them. The other part – and this one is the real biggie here, folks – is that I suffer from mental illness myself – something I went public with a number of years ago.

I suffer from Bipolar Affective Disorder (Type II), Mixed Type, having been formally diagnosed in January of 1992, although in retrospect I recognize symptoms that have existed as far back as childhood. Formerly known as manic depression, I have chosen to go public with my condition on the grounds that by informing and properly educating the public, the stigma that is so often prevalent with the term “mental illness” will begin to dissipate and people will recognize mental illness as just that – an illness. Just as one would not deny a diabetic their insulin or a kidney patient their dialysis treatment, so it is those who suffer from mental illness. With medication and regular follow-up treatment from their doctors and periodic visits with specialists, these people (myself included) live normal, meaningful and often very productive and rewarding lives. I would like to point out that Mike Wallace of CBS’ 60 Minutes – now in his eighties, suffers from clinical depression, yet has gone on to become one of the most distinguished journalists of our time.

Kudos should go out to Texas District Judge Belinda Hill for the speed with which this trial was conducted – thorough yet swift. She also wisely avoided the circus-like atmosphere of another O.J. Simpson carnival by limiting live television coverage to opening and closing arguments as well as to the verdict. I suspect that coverage will also be permitted for the penalty phase as well. The jurors (eight women and four men) are to be commended for the speed with which they reached their decision in rendering a verdict. Just as the O.J. Simpson trial reached a verdict of acquittal in four hours in Los Angeles, the Yates jury reached a guilty verdict in 3˝ hours. Another reason for the speedy verdict was that the evidence in the Yates trial was clear and overwhelming.

While many expected the testimony of psychiatrist Dr. Park Dietz to be a slam-dunk for the state, it did not turn out to be, yet there was other evidence that more than sufficiently showed that Yates knew exactly what she was doing when she killed her children.

As one who suffers from mental illness myself, I also know the difference between right and wrong. As one who is deeply religious, I also believe in the importance of both the temporal and the spiritual, as well as the here and now being a preparation for the eternal world to come. I also realize that I (as well as Andrea Yates and all human beings) am accountable for my actions. If Andrea Yates was in such bad shape that she had these intentions to kill her children and was in deep depression from the death of her father when she became pregnant with her fifth child, then she should not have (1), become pregnant again in the first place; or (2), been left alone with children – not for one minute, not for one second. Her husband’s conscious decision to heave her alone with her children for that one-hour window while he went to work and before his mother arrived in my opinion makes him liable for charges of manslaughter in the first degree.

As I saw and heard the verdict being read, there was little reaction on the part of Andrea Yates, which did not surprise me in the least. With the penalty phase beginning Thursday, I expect the jury to be out long enough to make their decision over a working lunch and vote unanimously for death.

Greta Van Susteren

Something the mainstream media – and especially Greta Van Susteren of FOX News (right) needs to keep in mind, is that Texas is not New York City nor is it Washington DC or Los Angeles. After watching Van Susteren on her show for about five minutes, I am beginning to think that she is an overly firm believer in innocence at all costs, regardless of the strength of the state’s evidence. I swear she has got to be the only white woman in America that thinks that Simpson didn’t kill his ex-wife. I suspect that she will carry the Yates banner in one way or another until Yates is strapped to a gurney in Huntsville and put out of her misery.

As talented a lawyer as Van Susteren is, she seems to forget something, however. Texans are a very conservative lot – always have been, always will be. They have no tolerance for lawlessness nor do they take a likeness for violent crime, particularly when the victims are children. In fact, the law in Texas defines Capital Murder as follows:

“The following crimes are Capital Murder in Texas: murder of a public safety officer or firefighter; murder during the commission of kidnapping, burglary, robbery, aggravated sexual assault, arson, or obstruction or retaliation; murder for remuneration; murder during prison escape; murder of a correctional employee; murder by a state prison inmate who is serving a life sentence for any of five offenses (murder, capital murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, or aggravated robbery); multiple murders; murder of an individual under six years of age.”

Andrea Yates knew EXACTLY what she was doing when she killed her babies as she described it to Houston Police when they responded to her 911-telephone call last June 20th. She did not save their souls as she claimed to have done, for as little children – all of them, especially six-month old Mary were incapable of forming the requisite mental intent to either sin or otherwise jeopardize their souls.

According to the pediatric pathologist who testified at the trial, Yates systematically drowned the children in the tub one by one. By the pathologist’s estimate, it took each of the children three minutes to lose consciousness in the feces, urine, and vomit-infested bathwater. It took another three minutes to drown, and even then, she probably had another six-minute window in which she could have successfully revived each of the children without leaving any brain damage. This leaves a window of 12 minutes per child, which multiplied by five, allowed for an hour in which Yates could have come around and realized that what she was doing was both as a matter of law and divine commandment WRONG, referring to her Bible in Exodus 20:13, where it says, “Thou shalt not kill.” The fact that Yates admitted chasing down 7-year old Noah as he ran from her and saying, “I got him” as she dragged him to his watery grave in the bathroom only goes to show her complete and absolute premeditation and determination to kill these children.

Her claim to “save their souls” is nothing more than a smokescreen that the jury saw through. The fact that there were eight women on the jury, most if not all of whom were mothers themselves probably sealed the conviction once the evidence was shown. The complete depravity with which this woman viewed the lives of her children is such that the only verdict, yes, even the only option this jury has is to return a sentence of death.

Postpartum depression is not an excuse for slaughtering your babies. Many a woman (and even men suffering from regular depression) in that condition have called a friend, a relative, minister, priest, rabbi or mental health center to seek help, even if it was just for a few hours until they got their head cleared. Yates had this option, used it in the past and deliberately chose not to use it this time. She chose to take the lives of her children, to snuff them out before their prime and may have even done it as a sort of revenge against her husband.

Andrea Yates

The penalty phase does not bode well for Yates at this point. On completing deliberations, the jurors came back into the courtroom very businesslike and emotionless, refusing to look at Yates (left). The verdict was read, Yates had no reaction to it because in all likelihood she had resigned herself to her fate and the jurors refused to look at her, even as they were being polled as to how they voted.

The penalty phase begins tomorrow. Expect a 12-0 vote for the only sentence Yates or anyone else – male or female – who kills their children deserves and that sentence is: DEATH.

Are there any questions? No? Class dismissed.