The lead protection lawyer for Andrea Yates — the Texas mother who drowned her 5 younger youngsters whereas within the throes of postpartum psychosis in 2001— mentioned the mistrial declared in Lindsay Clancy‘s high-profile homicide trial may finally profit the accused killer mother.
George Parnham, 85 — the lawyer credited with securing Yates’ notorious not responsible by purpose of madness verdict — mentioned Friday’s determination may supply the protection a leg up for a number of causes.
“Give me a hung jury and a mistrial daily of the week,” he advised The Put up.
The mistrial was referred to as after jurors spent practically 40 hours deliberating, leading to an 11-1 determination impasse that Clancy’s lawyer Kevin Reddington slammed as a “actual disgrace” as a result of he “kicked the sh-t” out of the prosecution.
Parnham mentioned he understands Reddington’s frustration as a result of a mistrial “disrupts the entire course of” and mentioned he believes the lawyer was inside arm’s attain of securing an acquittal for Clancy within the killings of her daughter Cora, 5, and sons Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months.
“Eleven to 1, you’re certainly hoping that you just don’t get a mistrial with the holdout, however the different aspect is that if the case is retried, you’ve got the benefit,” he defined.
Having gone by means of a full trial for his consumer, Reddington now has perception into the prosecution’s technique and can have courtroom transcripts from Clancy’s first trial on the able to test witness testimony for contradictions and inconsistences, Parnham mentioned. If witnesses’ tales have been the change, that could possibly be grounds to have their testimony disqualified, he mentioned.
However Parnham expects the Plymouth County District Legal professional’s Workplace and Reddington will attain an settlement as a substitute of heading to retrial, saying he doesn’t assume prosecutors need to run the chance of retrying her case because the jury was principally in Clancy’s favor.
“I believe perhaps, the decision, if it occurs, won’t be a not responsible by purpose of madness acquittal,” he mentioned.
He predicts that she is going to possible be convicted of lesser fees and be incarcerated for “a brief time period,” though he believes that she ought to have been discovered not responsible by purpose of madness.
Parnham referenced Yates’ case, wherein a jury initially discovered her responsible as a substitute of insane for drowning her youngsters within the bathtub of her dwelling simply exterior of Houston.
However the 2002 capital homicide conviction was thrown out after it emerged {that a} forensic psychiatrist for the prosecution gave false testimony. A second jury discovered her not responsible by purpose of madness in 2006. Yates stays at Kerrville State Hospital for therapy.
“We got here again, retried it and they acquitted her,” he mentioned.
Yates’ groundbreaking homicide trial bears placing similarities to the Clancy case — wherein the 36-year-old Massachusetts mom strangled her three youngsters to demise, Parnham mentioned.
Each moms have mentioned they suffered postpartum psychosis and neither had any “ulterior motives” for killing their youngsters — akin to cash or revenge in opposition to the daddy, in keeping with Parnham.
“You eradicate all the probabilities of ulterior motives and you find yourself with the indisputable fact that psychological sickness is the rationale these conditions occurred,” he mentioned.
Yates was 37 on June 20, 2001, when she killed her youngsters — Noah, 7, John, 5, Paul, 3, Luke, 2, and Mary, 6 months.
She waited for her husband, Rusty, to go to work earlier than drowning them, one after the other, then referred to as 911, in keeping with testimony.
“I’ve labored on a whole lot of capital homicide circumstances however when a mom and youngster are concerned, it’s a very totally different perspective,” he mentioned. “Jurors are perplexed and astonished actually.”
Clancy’s lawyer “has finished a wonderful job speaking to jurors” about postpartum psychosis, which is extraordinarily uncommon and laborious to diagnose, he mentioned.
Parnham, who nonetheless visits Yates each two months, mentioned she’s possible conscious of Clancy’s high-profile case, although they haven’t mentioned it.
He mentioned Yates is making progress along with her psychological well being, and has requested him to go to her youngsters’ closing resting locations.
“I’ll exit and provides flowers to the graves. She’s so grateful that somebody is doing that for her youngsters,” he mentioned.
He generally brings her meals from Cracker Barrel, mentioned she likes to learn and is sometimes tasked with serving to different sufferers.
“I like her like a daughter,” he mentioned.
Clancy advised her husband she heard a male voice telling her to “kill her youngsters and kill herself,” a psychologist testified throughout the trial.
Prosecutors contend she was in management and knew proper from improper.
Clancy is due again in courtroom on Sept. 29.
