HOUSTON'With stunning swiftness, a jury Tuesday convicted Andrea Yates of capital murder, rejecting the defense argument that she was in the throes of a psychotic breakdown and could not distinguish right from wrong when she drowned her five children in the family bathtub last June. She could be sentenced to death in the trial's penalty phase, scheduled to begin Thursday.
After 17 days of testimony from 38 witnesses, and impassioned closing statements by prosecutors and defense attorneys Monday morning, the jury of eight women and four men deliberated for just 3 1/2 hours before returning the verdicts at 5 p.m. CST.
Although she admitted drowning all five of her children, aged six months to seven years, Yates was charged with only two counts of capital murder in three of the deaths.
