**Andrea Yates Sentence**Live Thread**Ruling @ 2:45 ET**

3-15-02

[CWRWinger]

Susan Smith is not dead yet. I think those days are over.

Life means like 5 - 10 years? Texas may be more literal than the rest of the country.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

11:48 PST (AP) -- The 37-year-old housewife will have to serve at least 40 years before becoming eligible for parole.

Yates stood while the verdict was read, her attorney's arm around her. Her attorneys smiled, but there was no apparent reaction from her.

The same jury that took less than four hours to reject her claim of insanity and convict her of murder Tuesday returned the sentence with similar swiftness, after prosecutors made a less-than-forceful push for the death penalty.

[spectre]

Life in prison, ETERNITY in hell.

sw

[Howlin]

She'll think she's in hell when those women in prison get a hold of her.

[dougherty]

I hope she will be miserable. They ought to hang photos of the kids in her cell so she will have to see them every single day.

[xzins]

I can easily believe it. The prosecution didn't even challenge during the sentence hearing. They sent a signal that they believed all along that Yates was a life case, not a capital case. The jury went along.

Mitigation, though, made it impossible for the prosecution to argue otherwise. EVERYONE accepted that this lady had some major screws loose.

She gets out a 77 years old after 40 years. She won't have any grandkids for us to worry about, will she?

I predict her husband divorces her in the next 3 years and remarries. Any takers?

[Slyfox]

Best commentary is on Court TV.

[Clintons Are White Trash]

I don't know, he may not remarry, but I wouldn't put it past him to ditch her now and find some other fool to be his brood mare.

[Ipberg]

I'm surprised. I thought the Texas jury would hand down a death sentence. If it was a Texan father who killed the kids, you better believe that's the verdict. There's a double standard even in Texas.

[KC_Conspirator]

With all this talk about Yates on the radio and TV, my wife said something the other night that struck me: If Andrea Yates was a man he would not only have his insanity plea thrown out (like Andrea), but a man would most likely get the death penalty. I had to stop and think about that because most of punditry talk has been pretty focused on the facts of the case. What struck me was that my wife is exactly right.

[Consort]

She wants to run the prison day care center and help wet nurse the infants. When she gets out, she plans to make a living as a nanny, or a babysitter, or an au pair.

[Mo1]

She'll think she's in hell when those women in prison get a hold of her.

Maybe they'll all give her a nice big group hug

[mystery-ak]

victim impact statements coming up?
There's no vicims left, surely they don't mean Russell!

[TomGuy]

She can still be charged in the deaths of 2 of the kids. She was charged with deaths of only 3.

Earlier report on the evening news said she would be age 77 before any possible release.

[goldstategop]

Well people have always had a softer view of women and their cupability. They are supposed to be the weaker sex after all.

[cajungirl]

I agree with your sentiments. I am glad they did not kill her but she did know it was wrong and against the law when she killed her children. This sentence holds no joy or celebration for me,,I just feel sad for her children and her and her family. A truly awful case.

[Mixer]

I bet she is dead before her life sentence is over... :)

At this point that is the only thing that would satisfy me. I am sure she will be plenty torured. Think of all the women in there that only wish they could see their kids again on a daily basis and you have a pretty good idea what she is in store for. I wish it had been death though.

[HamiltonJay]

Not suprising, she's definately ill and the prosecutor even instructed the jury it was ok not to sentence her to death before they went into deliberate...

[Faraday]

The verdict is a shame. It suggests that the jury is somewhat less civilized than their quick verdict hinted at. Nevertheless, they should be congratulated for not giving into the "medicalizing" of criminal behavior.

[spectre]

I hope you are right. But they are discussing the possibility she will be isolated from the other inmates and kept on her meds.

How about a State Mental Institution? A really bad State Mental Institution....

sw