Explain the general facts of the case and the holding while defining guilty by reason of insanity, the M’Naghten Rule and the Irresistible Impulse Test.
Andrea Pia Kennedy; formerly Andrea Yates; born July 2, 1964 confessed to drowning her five children in their bathtub on June 20, 2001. Yates had been diagnosed postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis and bipolar disorder. Yates attempted twice and was treated at a psychiatric facility.The case placed the M’Naghten Rules, along with the Irresistible Impulse Test, a legal test for sanity, under close public scrutiny in the United States. She was convicted of capital murder. After the guilty verdict, but before sentencing, the State abandoned its request for the death penalty in light of false testimony by one of its expert psychiatric witnesses. She was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years. The verdict was overturned on appeal. On July 26, 2006, the Texas jury in her retrial found that Yates was not guilty by reason of insanity. She was consequently committed by the court to the North Texas State Hospital, a high-security mental health facility. Yates received medical until January 2007, when she was moved to a low security state mental hospital in Kerrville.
Assignment Outcomes:
Explain the general facts of the case and the holding while defining guilty by reason of insanity, the M’Naghten Rule and the Irresistible Impulse Test.
Yates was retried and found not guilty based on her defense that she suffered from postpartum psychosis – a mental illness – a mitigating factor in determining punishment. Do you agree with this as a valid defense? Support with empirical research only, not your opinion. Incorporate as much material as applicable from class and 2 other outside sources.
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