SURVENT

According to an article on CNN yesterday, Dr. Park Dietz returned to the witness stand for Andrea Yates retrial for his testimonial late last week and continuing on Monday. It was Dietz testimony that caused the mistrial last time due to his testimony about an episode of "Law and Order" where a woman who drowned her children was acquitted by reason of insanity. The issue was that the episode did not exist, so the judge then ruled a mistrial. Dietz is a consultant to the "Law and Order" television series, as well as a psychiatrist.

I am guessing that there was no mention by him of that episode this time around. The prosecution must really be hurting for proof against Yates though if they had to bring him back to help their case. I really hope they find her guilty and not innocent due to insanity.

**UPDATE - 2/21/2007**

I noticed today that the link to CNN's article above is no longer valid. Here is a short bit from the article that I was referring to dated July 15, 2006:

Although Yates tried to commit suicide twice and was diagnosed with five mental illnesses, she never acted "grossly psychotic" until she drowned her five children, [Dietz] testified.

Dietz said it is unclear whether Yates' depression in 1999 was postpartum because her suicide attempts came four and five months after Luke was born. After she was released from the mental hospital, she did not take her medication, and she and her husband ignored another psychiatrist's advice not to have more children, Dietz said.

Dietz said a larger contributor to Yates' mental problems was losing her identity after marrying Rusty Yates, who picked out all of their children's names and made her convert from Catholicism to another religion. Yates also quit a nursing career when she married and had a miscarriage among the five births.

If I can find the full article I will link to it or post it here. Sorry for the dead link. Here is a link to an article by the same writer a day earlier, on July 14, 2006, that is along the same lines and info as the article a day later.