Yates spared death penalty

HOUSTON -- A jury spared Andrea Yates' life Friday after prosecutors stopped short of demanding the death penalty for the tormented mother who drowned her five children in the bathtub.

Yates, 37, was sentenced to life in prison and will have to serve at least 40 years before she is eligible for parole.

The jury took just 35 minutes to bring an end to the case that had angered family members, women's groups and others who said prosecutors had shown no mercy in bringing a capital murder case against a mentally ill woman overwhelmed by the demands of motherhood.

"It would have been worse if she'd been given the death penalty, but not that much worse," said Yates' husband, Russell Yates.

Referring to family members, he added: "Most of us were offended that she was even prosecuted."

He also lashed out at the medical system that treated his wife: "They miserably failed us."

Yates learned her fate with her attorney's arm around her. Dressed in a silk blouse and white sweater, she turned to her attorneys and smiled as she realized her life had been spared. She later looked back toward her mother and siblings as she was led out of the courtroom.

"She was trying to figure out what the verdict was," defense attorney Wendell Odom said. "I think Andrea is relieved, of course. But Andrea is not a vocal person. She is medicated."

Jury decisions

The jury of eight women and four men took less than four hours to reject Yates' claim of insanity and convict her of murder Tuesday. It decided on her sentence almost as quickly after prosecutors made a less-than-forceful push for the death penalty, offering no new evidence or witnesses during the penalty phase.

Afterward, prosecutor Joe Owmby said that he didn't think "the facts and the evidence warranted me recommending a death sentence in this case."

In her closing argument, prosecutor Kaylynn Williford told jurors that Yates' children "never had a chance and you need to think about those children." She called the crime "the ultimate betrayal of a mother to her children."

But Williford also said: "Whatever decision you make, the state will accept."

Defense attorneys pleaded for Yates' life, saying that she is no longer a danger and that she will be 77 before she becomes eligible for parole.

"She will live the rest of her life knowing what she's done," Odom told the jury. "When it comes to punishment, there can be no greater punishment."