Rating: 
Summary: strong look at the psychological issues of mental illness
Review: The Andrea Yates's murders of her five children and the subsequent trial are graphically described by Suzanne O'Malley, a reporter who followed the case for TV and magazines. Not fascinating in any sense as Ms. O'Malley does not hold back in her details and her interviews. Most readers will struggle to get past the explicit details of a mother drowning her children. However, what makes this true crime story that sounds more like a horror novel remain above the sensationalism is that the author makes the key players seem real and human. Andrea Yates does not come across as a maniacal psychopathic monster, but instead someone suffering from mental illness, court ruling on competence aside. Not easy to read due to the horror of the crimes, Ms. O'Malley makes the case as stated by a neurologist that Ms. Yates "fit the definition of legal insanity-even in Texas." This strong look at the psychological issues of mental illness that makes justice so difficult to insure provides more than a ghastly look at perhaps the most hideous personal crime of the decade.Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: The Mistreatment and trial of Andrea Yates
Review: The recent Court decision to over-turn the conviction of Andrea Yates was based in part on the evidence presented in this well-researched book on the "unspeakable" crime. Ms. O'Malley caught a number of mistakes in the way Yates was treated and the way her case was presented, but uncovering the erroneous testimony of the prosecution's expert witness, Dr. Park Dietz, was the central factor in discrediting the state's case against Andrea Yates. By virtue of her careful reporting and analysis, Ms. O'Malley managed, not simply to observe the trial process, but to become one of the most powerful participants in it. It becomes clear in this book that the psychiatric treatment of Yates is one of trial and error, if not downright neglect. Even reading the transcript of the Dietz interview is enough to convince one that Ms. Yates, whatever she may have known about right from wrong under the McNaughton doctrine, was not in control. She never doubted her actions were illegal, and she seemed convinced that they morally wrong; yet, at the same time, and in a way that makes her case for insanity that much more provocative -- she seemed convinced that she would be judged morally wrong for not drowning them, or otherwise ending their lives. She had talked herself into a tragic corner -- herself inevitably damned, she opted to save her children from the certain damnation that awaited them if, in her warped view, she did not act. No one denies that Ms. Yates suffered from mental illness prior to and at the time of her act. But the depth seemed to elude a number of people. The endless attempts to get Andrea to specify her thoughts at specific points in time for the purpose of the trial record would be risible but for the fact they were real. When Dr. Dietz asked her, "What were you wearing at the time of the drownings?" She responded, "clothes." She was so hopelessly operating at a cognitive level that simply didn't fulfill the requirements of an advarsarial system -- and yet she was there, having been declared sufficiently sane to stand trial. The decision allowing her to so stand was, in effect, the second tragedy.
Rating:
Summary: Mental Illness is Real
Review: This book will clear up a lot of things for people wo were/are interested in the Yates case. Much blame has been put on Rusty, her doctors, and her family. O'Malley has personally interviewed most parties involved and the picture that she paints is crystal clear: our mental health system is sorely lacking. I believe that for those in the camp that think she should have gotten the death penalty, this book will change their minds. It is clear that Andrea Yates should be under psychiatric supervision for the rest of her life, not in jail. Aside from a little skipping around that was confusing, O'Malley covers things chronologically, beginning with the drownings and ending with the uncertainty of the future for the Yateses. I was a bit taken aback when the author claimed that she "saved Andrea's life" herself, but apart from that, this book is excellent.
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