Andrea Yates Murder Conviction Reversed

Houston Mother Drowned Her Children

Andrea Yates, pregnant with daughter Mary, and husband Russell Yates pose with their children, from left, John, Luke, Paul and Noah, in 2000. (AP Via Houston Chronicle)

HOUSTON, Jan. 6 -- Andrea Yates's murder conviction for drowning her children in a bathtub was overturned by an appeals court Thursday because a psychiatrist for the prosecution gave erroneous testimony that suggested the Texas mother got the idea from an episode of "Law & Order."

The ruling means Yates is entitled to a new trial, though prosecutors said they would try to have the conviction reinstated.

Yates, 40, is more than two years into a life sentence after a trial that sparked national debate about mothers who kill, postpartum depression and the legal definition of insanity.

The appeals court ruling turned on the testimony of Park Dietz, a forensic psychiatrist who consulted for "Law & Order" and helped prosecutors land a conviction in 2002. Dietz testified at the trial that shortly before Yates's crime occurred, "Law & Order" ran an episode about a woman who drowned her children and was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

But it turned out that no such "Law & Order" episode existed.

"We conclude that there is a reasonable likelihood that Dr. Dietz's false testimony could have affected the judgment of the jury," a three-judge panel of the 1st Texas Court of Appeals said.

Calls to Dietz's office in Newport Beach, Calif., were not immediately returned. In its ruling, the appeals court noted that Dietz "acknowledged that he had made an error in his testimony."

On June 20, 2001, Yates drowned her five children one by one and then called police to her Houston home and showed them the bodies of Noah, 7, John, 5, Paul, 3, Luke, 2, and Mary, 6 months.

Yates pleaded insanity. According to testimony at the trial, she was overwhelmed by motherhood, considered herself a bad mother, suffered from postpartum depression, had attempted suicide and had been hospitalized for depression.

Five mental health experts for the defense testified that she did not know right from wrong or that she thought what she did was right.

Dietz, a nationally known authority who took part in the Jeffrey Dahmer and Unabomber cases, was the lone mental health expert to testify for the prosecution, and the only one to say that Yates knew right from wrong. Ultimately, the jury rejected her claim of insanity and the appeals court called Dietz's testimony "critical."

The error in his testimony became known to prosecutors and jurors before the sentencing phase in 2002. The defense asked for a mistrial because of it, but the judge refused. The jury ultimately spared Yates from the death penalty.

The appeals court absolved the prosecutors of any wrongdoing. And Joseph Owmby, who prosecuted Yates, said Thursday that he had no reason to doubt Dietz at the time.

Yates was thrilled by the news after learning of the ruling at the psychiatric prison where she is serving her sentence.

"She smiled and said she was basically just kind of in shock," said Todd Foxworth, warden at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Skyview Unit, who delivered the news. "But she was very happy. Physically and mentally, she's doing as well as I've ever seen her."

Defense attorney George Parnham said he had no plans to seek her release from the prison, about 140 miles north of Houston, where she works in the flower garden and has janitorial duties.