Crazy nuts who take their religion seriously. Hard for secularists to get, eh? :)

Kidding aside, it seems to me that one could argue that if a devout Bible literalist like Andrea Yates is taking orders from Satan, then almost by definition she's lost the ability to tell right from wrong. Like I said, I'm boggled that Park Dietz sees it differently.

So if the voices in your head are God, then you're crazy, and if the voices are Satan, you're a *sane*, cold-blooded killer?

The only thing that is remote sane (pun intended) about this distinction is that you *expect* orders to kill from Satan, but not from God.

This might be one of the nuttiest things I've heard of in awhile. Why does religion help interpret an insanity defense. God versus Satan? Thanks for the post Charles. I really didn't know much about this case until the last two days. My girlfriend asked me why she got insanity and Yates didn't. Now I know.

I only hope that this was a very watered down version of the deciding factor(s).

Without any of the details to go on, in my opinion, anyone who murders their own children is, by definition, insane.

As blogospherian types are wont to say, Advantage: me! I understood that perfectly (and, I believe, said so in your comments) when I read about it the first time.

I hope Andrea Yates' lawyers use this to discredit his testimony in the appeals process. Deitz's religious beliefs, which are what's at issue here, should have nothing to do with whether or not Yates or Laney is insane.

What will probably help Andrea Yates' appeal is not the question of where the voices were coming from, but from the fact that during the Laney trial, it was revealed that she called 911 after the attacks. To my mind, that shows the ability to determine right from wrong.

It might help if the standard for legal insanity reflected the standard for being committed to a state psychiatric hospital. In New York, for example, two doctors and a judge have to determine that you are an "imminent" danger to yourself or to someone else in order to be committed. Using that guideline, the argument can be made that Yates and Laney were both insane.

If I remember correctly, both Laney and Yates called 911 after their attacks.

Believe it or not, the criminal law in Texas--especially with respect to mental illness--is exactly this screwed up.

Of course, I may be wrong, but I generally think that anyone who kills their children because voices in their head told them to do so is by definition insane.

Here's my $.01 worth. Both Yates and Laney were represented by attorneys whose job was to either keep them off death row or out of prison, or to just walk free through an outright acquittal by a jury. Since the last idea probably wasn't going to happen since they both confessed, the attorneys did exactly what they were paid to do. I'm not defending either woman or their attorneys, I'm just saying that's the way things are in the judicial system. My biggest question in the Laney case is this: who is going to decide that she's all better and able to live in society again? That's the scariest part to me.

As I understand it, Yates' belief was that if she didn't kill her children, they would be influenced by Satan and go to Hell instead of Heaven. She also seemed to believe she had influencing forces from Satan in her. During interviews with Park Dietz, she said she knew she would be condemned for her actions by her husband, society, and God. Park Dietz believed Andrea Yates was mentally ill, but she did know at the time of the murders that her actions were wrong.

Laney, on the other hand, believed she was given a direct order by God to kill her children and she believed her actions were right...not wrong. She also believed that she and Yates would lead the world after a great catastrophe.

That is all the jury needed to know...Did the individual in question believe in a wrongness of action at the time the offense ocurred?

I totally support Andrea Yates in gaining freedom one day she does not deserve to be in prison , after all thats where she has been for SO many years. Her legal team are exceptional human beings. If I understand '' religion '' we are not to ''judge'' and we are also to ''forgive''. Andrea has to live with what she did through her mental illness to her children... can you only imagine THAT pain ?? I as a mother forgive her. I wish for her much ''internal peace'' and freedom and to be treated with respect and understanding of a person with a SERIOUS mental illness which now through the kindness and caring of a lawyer name George Andrea will be able to have a quality future.

And a comment re: the Dr who evaluated Andrea for the procecution , Dr Dietz ?? it is clear why you do not have a '' private practice '' you would not have any patients.

MJ in Canada