Proposed bill would recognize postpartum psychosis as a defense for moms who kill infants
06:37 AM CDT on Monday, March 23, 2009

By WENDY HUNDLEY / The Dallas Morning News

Under a bill introduced in the Texas Legislature, postpartum mental disorder would be recognized as a legal defense for women, such as Andrea Yates and Dena Schlosser, who kill their children.

[Incidentally, both of those women were found not guilty by reason of insanity. Amazingly, the reporter fails to mention that in the story. You think that was because it doesn't help the bill along?]

Details.

"It's something every civilized country has on its books," said Parnham, a strong proponent of the legislation. So George is every state in the United States uncivilized?

And what is with a State Jail Felony? At least recommend Infanticide to be a 2nd degree, 2-20!!! That's much more reasonable if anybody in the Legislature is listening.

This is not a year for reason in any legislature.

The legislature has already provided a punishment range: 5-99 or life with probation available if eligible. What is so wrong with that? If an individual dies through the deliberate act of another individual, our Legislature has said that we should trust the judge or jury to determine the punishment within that range. All that evidence is admissible at guilty (on the issue of insanity) and punishment (for mitigation).

What the defense doesn't like is having to justify the mitigation before a jury. We should not be narrowing the punishment by trying to codify a trendy or current notion of what is and is not mitigating. Such a statute isolates a particular type of evidence and highlights it above all other evidence. Such a comment on the weight of evidence circumvents the jury process and encourages lies in the courtroom.

This is particularly a problem in the psychiatric world, where we all know anyone can go find and hire an expert to say anything for the right price.

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Originally posted by JB:
The legislature has already provided a punishment range: 5-99 or life with probation available if eligible. What is so wrong with that?

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That may be true for Injury to a Child, but straight probation is no longer available for murder.

And if this bill passes, neither will deferred adjudication: HB 825

That would be rather foolish. The system must have a safety valve, or the parties are forced to create some fictional offense to achieve probation in the appropriate case.