I’ve lamented the Andrea Yates trial over in The Corner, but this e-mail made me wonder what the Bench Memos crowd makes of it:

As a lawyer, I find the Yates verdict disappointing. Andrea Yates may well have been severely mentally ill at the time of the killings. However, under Texas law, the Yates defense team needed to prove: 1. That Yates was mentally ill at the time of the killings; AND 2. That Andrea Yates did not know that her conduct was wrong in the eyes of the law. Yates’ attorneys clearly failed to meet their burden of proof as to the second prong of Texas’ insanity defense. Andrea Yates conduct relating to the killings- i.e. calling the police after killing the children- clearly established that she knew what she was doing was legally impermissible. Mental health advocates can decry Texas’ insanity defense law is being too harsh on the mentally ill, but the law was passed by elected legislators who reflected the will of the majority of Texans. The Yates jury simply refused to follow Texas law; and that’s troubling.