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To: Lane3 who wrote (4814)	3/25/2002 7:11:05 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 21057

Spreading the Blame in the Yates Case It was a busy week for Rusty Yates. While his wife, Andrea, was being sentenced to life in prison for drowning their five children, Yates defended her in an interview on the “Today” show in New York. That night he was in Los Angeles, doing the same with Larry King of CNN. Wednesday was Oprah’s turn in Chicago. But as he crisscrossed the nation, simmering questions about his own accountability have boiled over. Andrea’s mother and siblings told reporters that Rusty, a controlling husband who often downplayed his wife’s mental illness and shut them out, bears some responsibility for the tragedy. Andrea’s best friend, Deborah Holmes, did the same. On radio call-in shows, Internet chat rooms and newspaper editorial pages, the questions continue. Rusty calls such claims “outrageous” and says he did all he could to care for his wife. He says he never knew his wife was so sick, and he blames the medical community for not properly diagnosing and treating her. He has threatened to sue Andrea’s doctors and insurance providers. Soon, however, he could have legal troubles of his own. The judge in the case is still considering whether Rusty violated the gag order and should be held in contempt of court. And Harris County D.A. Chuck Rosenthal told NEWSWEEK that his staff is investigating Rusty for crimes of omission including child endangerment. Indeed, it’s what Rusty didn’t do that Andrea’s family and friends question. Andrea’s brother, Brian Kennedy, told NEWSWEEK he often tried to convince Rusty that Andrea’s illness was severe. “He just never accepted it,” says Kennedy, who calls his brother-in-law’s media appearances “damage control.” Holmes told NEWSWEEK that Andrea talked to Rusty about her mental illness before the drownings. But instead of immediately seeking treatment for her, Rusty bolstered Andrea’s belief that she was probably being influenced by demons, Holmes says. Even forensic psychiatrist Park Dietz, who was the prosecution’s star witness, told NEWSWEEK that Rusty may have prevented the tragedy. He says Rusty’s insistence that his wife home-school their children and that they live in a cramped bus for a while, and his limiting her contact with friends and family and ex-posing her to Michael Woroniecki’s cult teachings about Satan, were all major contributors to her mental illness. Rusty is “innocent of any criminal offense,” says his lawyer, Ed Mallet. Some legal experts, however, think that even if Yates escapes criminal charges (including contempt of court) he may have a tough time defending himself in civil court, where a jury could find him partly responsible. While her attorneys and others mull over book deals and movie rights, Andrea will remain in an isolated cell 23 hours a day, allowed only one hour a day for recreation, according to a prison spokesman. She will not be allowed to make any phone calls or have any visitors for at least a month. Rusty said last week that marriage is for companionship and children—and that he has neither. But while Andrea’s brother questions Rusty’s commitment to Andrea, he says her own family won’t waver. “Mom’s already written a letter to her,” Kennedy says. “We’ll always be there for her.” — Anne Belli Gesalman msnbc.com