From Fox News: <http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,48770,00.html>
(Not exactly a flattering picture, is it?) District Attorney's Office Looking Into Russell Yates' Role in Drownings Monday, March 25, 2002 HOUSTON � Less than a week after Andrea Yates began serving life in prison for killing her children, the Harris County district attorney's office said it is looking into whether her husband had any culpability in the drownings. To call it an "investigation" would be too strong, District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said Monday. Rosenthal said his office began looking into Russell Yates at the urging of "gazillions" of e-mails which have arrived in his office inbox in months since the drownings last June 20. "We're looking into it, because we've been asked to look into it," Rosenthal told The Associated Press. Russell Yates' attorney, Edward Mallett, said Rosenthal is doing his job. "He's an elected district attorney," Mallett said. "What's he going to say, 'I'm not going to investigate.' "Of course he's going to investigate." Mallett said he is confident any probe of Russell Yates will come up lacking any criminal allegations against the NASA computer specialist. "I am confident that Russell Yates is innocent of any wrongdoing," Mallett said. "It's a tragedy that Rusty now has to defend himself after standing by his wife." Andrea Yates, 37, was convicted of two capital murder charges in the drowning deaths of three of her five children March 12. Days later, the same eight-woman, four-man jury panel, took less 40 minutes to recommend a life sentence. Yates had faced the death penalty after jurors rejected her insanity defense. The convicted child killer, who was formally sentenced last Monday as her family toured the talk show circuit, becomes eligible for parole in 2041. Russell Yates has blamed the medical community for failing his wife and leading to his children's deaths. He says a doctor changed his wife's prescription two days before police arrived at the family's home after Andrea Yates' called 911. Yates confessed to killing her children, four of whom were laid out on a bed while the fifth was left floating in the bathtub where they were killed. Prosecutors have questioned why Russell Yates left his wife alone with the children. The father told prosecutors he thought his wife would be fine with the children for the hour between when he left for work and his mother arrived to help out. "We didn't see her as a danger," Yates testified during his wife's trial. Russell Yates also is under investigation for alleged gag order violations by a special prosecutor appointed by state District Judge Belinda Hill. George 'Mac' Secrest also is investigating Rosenthal for comments he made leading up to Andrea Yates' monthlong trial. �Associated Press. All rights reserved.
