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CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK
Authorities Release Videotapes of Andrea Yates' Confession
Aired June 20, 2002 - 06:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It has been a year since the nation was shocked by news that a Houston mother had drowned her five children, one by one, in a bathtub. Authorities have recently released videotapes of Andrea Yates' confession. She says Satan made her do it.
Our David Mattingly has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Throughout her trial, there was never any question that Andrea Yates suffered from severe mental illness, and videotapes just released by the Harris County district attorney show Yates in the depths of her psychosis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you want to be punished? Did you feel like you needed to be punished for something?
ANDREA YATES, CONVICTED OF MURDER: For being a bad mother.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Being a bad mother?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: This first tape from a psychologist interview for the defense, conducted in jail one month after Yates drowned her five children in the family's bathtub.
GEORGE PARNHAM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: She comes across as a pitiful figure, a very sad and very tragic figure, and that's because she comes across as the person that she was on June 20.
MATTINGLY: Through the poor quality audio and video, we see that Yates' hair appears stringy, her eyes, dark. Speaking on monotone at times, she has difficulty answering questions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why did you think would happen to you after you killed the children?
YATES: That I would be arrested. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You would be arrested? And then what would happen?
YATES: Go to jail.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You would go to jail? Is that what you wanted?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: There are often long pauses with Yates staring into space. At one time, she admits to still hearing the voice of the devil. But now compare the Andrea Yates we see in this video interviewed by the same psychologist just over six months later.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you doing with yourself during the day?
YATES: Reading and doing a little exercise.
MATTINGLY: Yates is more alert, responsive, she even smiles. The defense used this comparison to show the jury how Yates responded to proper medical care, arguing she would not have killed her children had her doctor not taken her off her anti-psychotic medication. But in the end, the jury still found her guilty and capable of knowing right from wrong.
PARNHAM: The problem is that our law, as it presently stands, has no room for the type of mental illness that Andrea Yates was suffering from.
MATTINGLY: Concerned about sensationalism, Yates' attorneys have asked that court documents in the case be sealed, and may take action to block the release of further tapes and photographs pending the outcome of her appeal.
David Mattingly, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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