Can the Law be Fair? False Testimony

Sometimes the Law can be fair!
N Y Times today
January 6, 2005
Woman's Convictions on Drowning Children Are Overturned
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON (AP) -- Andrea Yates' capital murder convictions for drowning her children were overturned Thursday by an appeals court, which ruled a prosecution expert witness gave false testimony at her trial.

Yates' lawyers had argued at a hearing last month before a three-judge panel of the First Court of Appeals in Houston that psychiatrist Park Dietz was wrong when he mentioned an episode of the TV show "Law & Order" involving a woman found innocent by reason of insanity for drowning her children.

After jurors found Yates guilty, attorneys in the case and jurors learned no such episode existed.

"We conclude that there is a reasonable likelihood that Dr. Dietz's false testimony could have affected the judgment of the jury," the court ruled. "We further conclude that Dr. Dietz's false testimony affected the substantial rights of appellant."

Copyrighted article
Go to the article, via NY Times site for rest
Sometimes the law can be fair.