Andrea Yates: right, wrong or mental heart attack?

Lawyers summed up their cases this morning during closing arguments in the Andrea Yates retrial: The prosecution pointed to what it said was evidence Yates knew drowning her five children was wrong, while the defense called her actions the results of a "heart attack of the mind."

Prosecutor Joe Owmby told jurors that Yates drowned her kids — 6-month-old Mary, 2-year-old Luke, 3-year-old Paul, 5-year-old John and 7-year-old Noah — one at a time, hiding it from the others, because she knew what she was doing was wrong. Owmby also said Yates acted normally the morning of the killings, then called police afterward and asked when her trial would be. "Andrea Yates is guilty because under the law of the state at the time she drowned her children, she knew it was wrong and she was aware of the consequences of her actions," Owmby said.

Though she may be mentally ill, he said, Yates doesn't meet the state's definition of insanity. The prosecution is pushing for a guilty verdict, meaning Yates would be sentenced to life in prison; the defense is hoping jurors will find her not guilty by reason of insanity, a decision that would send Yates to a mental hospital under court supervision. To back up the defense's case, defense attorney Wendell Odom reminded jurors today that Yates killed the kids because she believed they were flawed and were going to hell. "Andrea Yates had a heart attack. It was a heart attack of the mind," Odom said. "The only reason we're here is there are five dead bodies, five precious children that have been killed. ... We want our pound of flesh. We want our accountability. We want someone to be punished."