The Crime in Writing True Crime (Continued)

That afternoon, Judge Hill briefly relaxed the gag order only for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office to announce it would seek the death penalty against Andrea Yates. Yet the next day, District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal went further defending his decision to CNN.

Yates attorney George Parnham also asked the judge to relax the gag so that Russell Yates could respond to the DA’s death action against Yates’ wife, i.e., so he too could defend his position. The judge only allowed the defense team to announce the formation of the Andrea Pia Yates Defense Fund. At the press conference, the media asked Russell Yates what he thought about the DA’s decision to seek the death penalty. Yates replied that he would love to answer that question, but he couldn’t because of the gag order.

Days later, Houston Chronicle reporter Mary Flood wrote, "Something terribly troublesome is happening in the Andrea Yates capital murder case." She explained that she was "talking about the erosion of constitutional rights…" and she pointed out that on June 22, 2001, Judge Hill had held a hearing "that was unconstitutional because the press and the public were physically excluded and couldn’t hear what was said by the attorneys or Yates."

Then, said Flood, on the Monday prior to the arraignment, "another problematic hearing was held in the Yates case. Reporters who happened into the unannounced event couldn’t hear the proceeding and several said the judge wouldn’t clarify what happened afterward." The attorneys couldn’t clarify the proceedings either, she wrote, because of the gag order, thus encouraging false reports to go uncorrected.

August 16, 2001, I wrote letters to DA Chuck Rosenthal and prosecutors Joe Owmby and Kaylynn Williford informing them that I was writing a book on the Yates case for St. Martin’s Press. I asked for their assistance after the gag order was lifted. And I stated, "Please know that anything I learn won’t appear in tomorrow’s media. It will be months down the line. Indeed, no publication date has been established."

I also requested that my name be included on any media contact lists for future news conferences and/or press releases.

Only Rosenthal answered: "I am sure that you are a very good author and will do a fine job in documenting this capital murder case. As a matter of course, I do not do press releases." He may not have done press releases, but both he and Russell Yates were talking to the Dallas Morning News.

Just before Labor Day weekend, defense attorneys filed more than 1000 pages of medical records with the court, presumably as a way to rebut previous prejudicial statements from the prosecution, and Court TV filed a motion asking to televise the Yates competency hearing scheduled for September 12. The Court TV motion was eventually denied. The judge did decree that a video camera could be in the courtroom, but nothing could be broadcast live, and no sound could be recorded.

Just after Labor Day, through the grapevine, I heard that a limited press pool would be allowed to cover the competency hearing. September 4, 2001, I emailed a request for press pool credentials to Court Administrator Jack Thompson, believing that the hearing would begin on September 12. The following day, I also faxed a request on my business letterhead. Mr. Thompson emailed me back, "Come on down….We all know Judge Fuller who was in your WASTED book…."

I emailed again asking if I needed to do anything in particular prior to "coming on down" or after I had "come on down." He replied that I needed to come to the administration office to pick up my pass. St. Martin’s Press followed up my request with a publisher’s request, on my behalf. I also followed up with DA Rosenthal, sending him several "dummy" copies of my book’s cover, giving him plenty to show off to his cronies, and letting him know the book was truly "in the works" for publication. It’s title was Breaking Point.

September 11, 2001, I learned that New York and Washington were being attacked, just as I learned that jury selection was beginning for Andrea Yates’ competency hearing. Despite my correspondence with the DA’s office and the courts’ administrative office, no one had ever indicated to me that jury selection began the day prior to the published competency hearing start date. I raced to downtown Houston on empty inbound lanes as I stared at cars parked in traffic desperately trying to get home to family and safety.

But that was moot; due to the terrorists’ attacks, the Yates competency hearing was postponed a week. So, on September 18, I showed up at the courts’ administrative office to get my press pass, only to learn that my pass was for the actual competency hearing only, not jury selection. Again, no one had informed me that there were different passes for different aspects of the hearing.

Casually and comfortably, Jack Thompson, and his co-worker Janet Warner, suggested that I go have a chat with Judge Fuller, the judge in my first true crime book. I did. Then I stood in the hallway and watched, taking notes on the courthouse atmosphere. Janet Warner came up, stood beside me, and she chit-chatted about Judge Hill, saying she was the "best judge" they had.

I asked if I could just peek through the courtroom window during jury selection to get a feeling of the courtroom for the book. Graciously, Warner got me a pass that was reserved for CNN, taped over it with "St. Martin Press" (sic), and gave it to me. After all, CNN had abandoned Yates coverage for 9/11 coverage.

So had 60 Minutes, which had interviewed Russell Yates with a planned airdate of the Sunday after the competency hearing. Indeed, during the competency trial, Russell Yates grinned in the courthouse corridor as he said he knew he wouldn’t be thrown in jail for breaking the gag order because 60 Minutes had interviewed DA Rosenthal, too. I frowned in the courthouse as I repeatedly talked about my deadline — just a month or two away.

Saturday, September 22, 2001, the jury came in with a verdict — Andrea Yates was competent to stand trial. Following the judge’s orders — which were similar to those of the arraignment — the press raced downstairs, out the courthouse doors, and stood outside waiting for attorneys and jurors to exit.

Then the press waited.