TEXAS APPEALS COURT OVERTURNS ANDREA YATES MURDER CONVICTION

[GalvestonDuck]

didnt see anything about a new trial. but what about double jeopardy? thought you couldnt be tried twice for the same crime...

It was for just this reason that the DA did not charge her with the murder of all the children in the first trial. I believe 2 or 3 were held back in case just something like this happened.

Ya beat me to it. She was only charged and convicted of three of the murders, so far.

[alicia-w]

well, finally a smart prosecutor somewhere. Whew!

[Brent]

well, finally a smart prosecutor somewhere. Whew!

Amazing.

[Brent]

And she can't be tried for the same "crime" under a different charge. For example, if she was acquited of murder, she couldn't then be charged with manslaughter and tried again. The "act" is the crime and she can't be tried a second time once a true standing verdict has already been reached, be it acquital or conviction.

But for now, there is no verdict since the original was overturned. There has to be one or the other.

I have a headache.

[vbhoutex]

Bumping this up since I just locked another thread about it. don't want it getting lost.

[Derek Ortt]

you cannot be tried for something if you have been acquitted.

If you are acquitted of murder, you can be later tried for manslaughter as they are two totally different crimes (murder involves malice and the other does not, thus, if it is proven that one killed but malice was not proven, yet manslaughter was not included, the accused walks)

I'm not sure if the court declared her to be not guilty but instead just threw out the conviction, which would allow for a second trial since she was not acquitted

One other thing, double jeapordy only applies within one jurisdiction. A person acquitted at the state level can still be tried by the feds or vice-versa if the evidence warrants

[Josephine96]

I know it's only January 6th.. but depending on what happens with this.. This could end up in December, being 1 of our biggest stories of the year..

I can not believe they overturned it..

[southerngale]

Absolutely disgusting! I STILL think about those poor kids fairly often and now we'll be hearing about their murders over and over again. She makes me sick and she deserves to spend the rest of her life in jail since she wasn't given the death penalty. Another trial is a waste of taxpayer money. She did it...move along already!

I had nightmares for a while about the child who tried to hide from her after he knew what she did to his siblings. Breaks my heart.

[j]

thanks for that coffee....now..what was I saying...oh yeah...here we go..the enless cycle of appeals and wasting of our tax dollars

[alicia-w]

wonder if they'll go for a capital murder charge now.

[Lindaloo]

Absolutely disgusting! I STILL think about those poor kids fairly often and now we'll be hearing about their murders over and over again. She makes me sick and she deserves to spend the rest of her life in jail since she wasn't given the death penalty. Another trial is a waste of taxpayer money. She did it...move along already!

I had nightmares for a while about the child who tried to hide from her after he knew what she did to his siblings. Breaks my heart.

Very well stated!! I feel the same way. All I think about is that baby hiding from his own Mother and watching his own Mother kill his siblings. I can't even begin to imagine what that baby was thinking.

[sunny]

Absolutely disgusting! I STILL think about those poor kids fairly often and now we'll be hearing about their murders over and over again. She makes me sick and she deserves to spend the rest of her life in jail since she wasn't given the death penalty. Another trial is a waste of taxpayer money. She did it...move along already!

I had nightmares for a while about the child who tried to hide from her after he knew what she did to his siblings. Breaks my heart.

Very well stated!! I feel the same way. All I think about is that baby hiding from his own Mother and watching his own Mother kill his siblings. I can't even begin to imagine what that baby was thinking.

To think the child was so completely defenseless against her. Oh, God.

[nystate]

I think they should try here again, but execute her this time...

[JenBayles]

wonder if they'll go for a capital murder charge now.

I believe they did in the first trial. Anybody know for sure?

[alicia-w]

Sorry, my mistake. She WAS convicted of capital murder. But the jury decided on life in prison.

From the court tv page:

To impose the death penalty, the jury had to decide unanimously that Yates was a future danger and that there were no mitigating circumstances against executing her. The jury answered no to the first question and therefore did not have to answer the second.