Opening Statements Given in Andrea Yates Trial
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back now to Houston, Texas, there after our "News Alert" is finished here, want to get the latest now on the Yates trial. Ed Lavandera outside the courtroom now watching developments, where a break was taken a short time ago. Ed, hello again.</s>ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, testimony is expected to resume again in about 30 minutes here in the courtroom. But most of the morning has been dominated by the opening statements in this case, as the prosecution and defense start making their cases before this jury made up of eight women and four men. One note -- one thing that the camera wasn't able to capture this morning, Russell Yates who has been subpoenaed as a witness for the defense has been obviously called as a witness, and because of that, he won't be allowed to be inside the courtroom. He told me last week that he desperately wanted to be inside as a show of support for his wife, but that won't be allowed to happen. The prosecution talking this morning, setting the scenes, describing the scene that officers encountered when they arrived at the Yates' home in suburban Houston on the morning of June 20, and also talking about the interviews that she first started giving to police after she had been taken into custody. At one point, an officer asked her why she committed these murders. There's a long pause, the prosecutor said 15 seconds, then eventually no answer, that at some point, one point, also telling the officer that she thought she was a bad mother and that her children weren't developing properly. And also -- but the toughest details to listen to and the prosecutors telling the jury, painting a picture of what the officers found inside the home.</s>JOSEPH OWMBY, PROSECUTOR: Officer Napp (ph) of the Houston Police Department arrived at the house and Andrea Yates told him that she had killed all of her children. He went to the back bedroom and saw in a bed, on a mattress on the floor that was made up for a bed, those children laid out: Luke, John -- Luke, Paul, John, Mary, Mary's head cradled on John's arm.</s>LAVANDERA: Andrea Yates' attorney saying that Mrs. Yates suffers from the cruelest and most severe form of mental illness, that she is not able to detect the dangers or anything that makes sense and it's a very difficult situation for her, a situation where she was given a cocktail of medications over a span of two years. The defense also pointed out in the 14 days before the murders that all of the medication that she had been taking during the hospital treatment had completely worn off. She had been taken off the medication 14 days prior to the murders and that by the morning of June 20, none of that medication was in her system and that she had returned to the psychotic state that she had been battled for so long.</s>GEORGE PARNHAM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Doctor Ringholtz (ph) has tested Andrea Yates for days and weeks with every available test at his command. He will tell this jury that, among other things, that in his opinion, she not only did not know on June the 20th what she was doing was wrong, but believed it was right.</s>LAVANDERA: The defense also telling the jury this morning that Andrea Yates is able to be coherent in the courtroom because over the last eight months, she has undergone treatment inside the Harris County Jail here in Houston, where she has been treated with more anti-psychotic medication, and that is the only reason that she is able to be coherent inside of the courtroom and be able to listen to this testimony today. Bill, back to you.</s>HEMMER: Ed, quickly here, do you know the testimony, the witnesses who may come forward this afternoon? Any guidance on that?</s>LAVANDERA: Well, just before lunch, the prosecution called the 911 operator that first took Andrea's call on the morning of June 20. And it appears that from here, they're laying out the timeline as exactly how things played out that morning as officers and different officers arrived at the Yates home. So I suspect we will hear from some police officers later on this afternoon inside the courtroom.</s>HEMMER: All right. Ed, thanks. And as you mentioned, three to four weeks, possibly the length of that trial. We'll watch it. Ed Lavandera, live in Houston.