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HOUSTON (AP) — A photograph of Andrea Yates' 7-year-old son floating face down in a bathtub is among the images her attorney does not want jurors to see during Yates' second capital murder trial.
Yates' attorney filed 30 pretrial motions, which were made public Monday, including one requesting "any and all photographs" of her children not be shown to jurors during the trial set to begin March 20.
George Parnham claims the photos could cause jurors to be unfairly prejudiced or confuse them, although prosecutors claim the images are evidence of Yates' crime.
"It is not unusual for us in a murder case to introduce photographs of the victims," said Prosecutor Alan Curry. "They are unpleasant to look at because we are involved in a murder case."
During Yates' original trial, the judge allowed jurors to see photographs of the children and a crime scene video taken by police investigators. A hearing is scheduled for Friday.
Jurors rejected Yates' original insanity defense in 2002 and sentenced her to life in prison for the June 2001 drowning deaths of three of her five children.
Her two capital murder convictions, however, were overturned by an appeals court last year based on false testimony from an expert witness. Her case was then sent back to district court for a new trial.
Yates faces two capital murder charges for the drowning deaths of 7-year-old Noah, 5-year-old John and the youngest, 6-month-old Mary. Evidence was presented about the drownings of Paul, 3, and Luke, 2, but Yates was not charged in their deaths.
She has again entered an innocent by reason of insanity plea. | 
