Houston Chronicle
August 28, 2001
ACLU and Others Join NOW in Clear Lake Mom's Defense
By Lisa Teachy
Several anti-death penalty groups and women's advocates are backing the Andrea Pia Yates Support Coalition, a group organized by the Houston Area National Organization for Women to help the Clear Lake mother accused of drowning her five children.
Members from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty and Murder Victims' Families for Reconciliation-Texas announced their support at a Houston news conference today.
Most are rallying behind Yates because, they said, she suffers from depression and psychosis. They said she needs medical treatment rather than be sent to prison or sentenced to death.
Yates, 37, faces capital murder charges in the deaths of three of her children -- Noah, 7, John, 5, and Mary, 6 months. The mother called police to her home June 20 and admitted drowning the children along with siblings Paul, 3, and Luke, 2, in the family bathtub.
Yates has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to two charges of capital murder. Her family said she suffers and has been treated for severe depression.
Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said his office will seek the death penalty. Rosenthal said the decision was made to give a jury a full range of punishment options.
Dave Atwood, a member of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said society would not benefit from Yates' being executed.
"Her death would be only one more tragic and painful event for this family," Atwood said.
Beatrice Mladenka Fowler of the ACLU called Rosenthal's decision "appalling."
"Andrea Pia Yates was mentally ill," Fowler said. "It's a travesty her condition wasn't treated."
Fowler urged Rosenthal to reconsider, adding that with medication Yates' condition could be controlled. Yates had been on a series of anti-psychotic and anti-depressive drugs, her husband, Russell Yates, has said.
Because state District Judge Belinda Hill has imposed a gag order on all parties in the case, neither Rosenthal's office nor defense lawyers can comment on the coalition.
The state president of NOW, Deborah Bell, said new members and endorsers are joining the coalition daily.
Other groups backing the coalition include Monica Lamb Wellness Foundation, Italian Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, Texas Moratorium Network, Moratorium March Network, The Amazon Xociety, Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, Houston Peace and Justice Center, The Women's Group and several individuals.
In addition to focusing on ways to help women who suffer depression and offer support to Yates and her family, the support coalition is spreading the word about a defense fund set up by Yates' attorneys.
They are also planning a Sept. 11 candlelight vigil outside the Harris County Jail, where Yates is being held in the psychiatric unit under a suicide watch.
A competency hearing has been set for Sept. 12 for a jury to decide whether Yates is able to stand trial.
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