Date=3/12/2002

Type=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

Title=YATES GUILTY (S)

Number=2-287480

Byline=MICHAEL LELAND

Dateline=CHICAGO

Internet=YES

Content=

Voiced At:

Intro: A jury in the U-S state of Texas has found a 37-year-old woman guilty of drowning her five children last year. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Andrea Yates, who claimed she was insane when she killed her children. More from V-O-A's Michael Leland.

Text: The eight woman, four man jury deliberated less than four hours in Houston, Texas Tuesday, before returning a verdict of guilty. Judge Belinda Hill read the verdict.

/// HILL ACT ///

The State of Texas vs. Andrea Yates. We, the jury, find the defendant, Andrea Yates guilty of capital murder as charged in the indictment.

/// END ACT ///

Jurors return to the courtroom Wednesday to begin determining Yates' punishment. She could be sentenced to death or receive life in prison.

Last year, Yates called her five children into the bathroom one at a time and drowned them, and then telephoned the police and confessed.

Yates' attorneys said she was overwhelmed by the responsibility of raising five children. She had suffered severe depression and had attempted suicide. Prosecutors argued in part that Yates' decision to call the police after she drowned her children suggests she knew right from wrong. (signed)

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