Russell Yates To Testify; Interview of Cynthia Alksne, Rusty Hardin
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: In Houston, the father of five children who were drowned by their mother is expected to testify in his wife's defense today. Russell Yates will appear in court for the first time since the trial began. He is a man who has been portrayed in many different ways since last summer's tragedy. CNN's Ed Lavandera has more on that.</s>ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We first met Russell Yates 24 hours after he lost his entire family, when he stepped into the spotlight.</s>QUESTION: ...your wife ever made any threats against the children?</s>RUSSELL YATES, ANDREA YATES' HUSBAND: No. He asked that earlier, and I said no.</s>LAVANDERA: Eyes bloodshot and swollen from a sleepless night of crying, Russell Yates defended his wife.</s>YATES: The woman here is not the woman that killed my children, so...</s>LAVANDERA: Yates says he talked that day because he didn't want police or prosecutors to define his family.</s>FAIRY CAROLAND, RUSSELL YATES' AUNT: He also thought about that in terms of wanting to set some people straight about Andrea, about what their life was like, and that it was so much more normal than people realize with them as a family. And he took 30 minutes to compose himself before he ever came out and did that.</s>LAVANDERA: Twice a week, Russell Yates visits a downtown Houston jail to spend 15 minutes with Andrea. He's still struggling to make sense of what happened. It's a lonely and spiritual journey, but Yates has find solace at this suburban Houston church, where funeral services were held for his five children, and he wonders how long he will stay in the house, which used to be filled with the sounds of vibrant children. His aunt recalls how he put it in a recent conversation.</s>CAROLAND: You know, Aunt Fairy, I do have bad memories, certainly, of what happened, but I've got some good memories in that house, of being with the kids, and things I did with them, and things I did with Andrea. I still have good memories there, and I need to kind sort through some of that stuff.</s>LAVANDERA: Sorting through the emotions is difficult. Everywhere Russell Yates goes, someone has an opinion about his family. Some people have little sympathy for him.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that he has turned from grieving father to supportive husband to exploitive manipulator of the death of his five babies.</s>LAVANDERA: Russell Yates doesn't understand the criticism. His family thinks it's partly because he doesn't cry in public.</s>CAROLAND: For some reason, people say he's not emotional enough. Well, I'm not quite sure what they're expecting there, but he's a person that doesn't try to stand in front of people and just constantly wallow in what he's feeling.</s>LAVANDERA: Russell Yates seems more tense around the courthouse. Family members says he feels the pressure of testifying in court...</s>YATES: I'm a little nervous, I guess. I don't even know if I'll get to speak today or not.</s>LAVANDERA: ...and whether it will be enough to save his wife's life. Ed Lavandera, CNN, Houston.</s>WHITFIELD: Right now, we want to get some analysis of the Andrea Yates trial. We are joined now by two legal experts. Cynthia Alksne is a former federal prosecutor, she is in our Washington bureau, and Rusty Hardin, he joins us from Houston. He used to be an assistant district attorney there. Thanks to both of you for joining us. Cynthia, I want to begin with you. You know, the defense has made it very clear, they had to, and are anxious to, call forth family members and friends of Andrea Yates, beginning today with the testimony of the mother, and then later this afternoon from the husband, Rusty Yates. But in your view, the prosecution has already blown this case, when it comes to what is central -- the central core to this case, her psychotic -- her mental state. Why do you believe the prosecutors have blown the case?</s>CYNTHIA ALKSNE, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, I think that's perhaps a little much, blown the case. I do have a disagreement with their strategy, which is from the moment the opening began, they allowed the defense to define her mental illness. They did not discuss it on opening, but to say it's the defense's burden to prove to you that she was legally insane, and we'll deal with that later, and we think she knew the difference between right and wrong. But they didn't deal with that big elephant in the room. Is she insane or not, and they didn't go through her medical records and say, okay, here and there and there and there she did this, which shows us that even then, she knew the difference between right and wrong. They just pushed it off on the defense. The problem with that is that now the defense has defined her. They began very effectively in opening as they talked about her being catatonic, and her history of mental illness and suicide, and how, over the course of the years, as she had more and more children, she had more and more difficulty with reality. And the jury will have heard this for weeks before the prosecution ever sets foot, really, into the ball game about her sanity. So, I believe that was a mistake, that they may be -- they may root (ph).</s>WHITFIELD: Well, Rusty, it is up to the defense. They have the burden of persuasion here. In your view, how effective will, possibly, the testimonies of Andrea Yates' family members and close friends be?</s>RUSTY HARDIN, FORMER ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Well, it will be very effective on the issue of whether she was mentally ill, but that's not really in contest. I think everybody is going to accept the testimony that she is a very sick woman. The issue will become, still, if the state does it right, will keep coming back to the issue of whether or not she knew what she was doing was wrong at the time she killed her five children. And no matter how sick she is in other respects, if there are jurors that not persuaded by the defense, by a preponderance of the evidence, that she did not know what she was doing was wrong, then the state wins on that issue. One thing about the other is, keep in mind about opening statements, I suspect what the prosecution -- the reason they didn't do it, Cynthia, is that their fear -- they weren't exactly sure what the defense was going do, and so, as you know, the issue always how much do you do on opening, as prosecutor lining up for the defense exactly what your theory is in every respect. I suspect they opted to do it the way they did out of a sense of caution. You may be right that it was a mistake...</s>ALKSNE: Right.</s>HARDIN: ...but I don't know that we'll know until the end.</s>ALKSNE: Right. That's exactly right. It is a strategy decision that they made I disagree with, but I am Monday morning quarterbacking, I'm not in the courtroom.</s>HARDIN: Well, we all are, we all are.</s>WHITFIELD: Well, Cynthia, when talking about Rusty Yates, the husband, who is expected to testify later on today. Already there has been this growing sentiment that perhaps, you know, he failed his wife by not helping to do more earlier when the signs were there. Particularly after the birth of her first child when she apparently was treated or diagnosed as being depressed then. Might the defense's selection of bringing the husband forth backfire in your view?</s>ALKSNE: Well, I think the prosecutors have to be very careful about the way they cross examine and suggest that somehow, you know, he has more culpability or push him in different ways. I think it is very dangerous for the prosecution. He is a very pathetic figure, he has lost all his children. I don't think it will backfire. I think it is smart for the defense. I think that not only can he produce factual evidence that's important for the defense, but he also is an important emotional link, and for those jurors who are on the fence and they don't know which way to go, he gives them the confidence that they're doing the right thing if they vote for the defense. So, it strikes me as a smart thing to do for the defense.</s>WHITFIELD: Rusty, what is your view? Might this be a smart move, or do you think it can potentially backfire?</s>HARDIN: Oh, I think it's a very smart move. They don't have any choice for the defense. They've always had to walk this very narrow line. They want him to be persuasive to the jury as to what kind of mother she was, and what kind of person she was, while at the same time, they want to kind of put him on trial, but do it subtly so that they don't have to ask mean questions of him. The public doesn't like this guy.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Sorry, I got to cut you off. We are out of time. Thanks very much, Rusty Hardin and Cynthia Alksne for joining us on that. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com Rusty Hardin>