The tragedy of the Yates case reminds us again of the social cost of lack of access to appropriate care and treatment for mental illness.

The Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode "Magnificat" was based on the Yates case.

Craig Haney, a psychology professor and expert on capital litigation at the University of California at Santa Cruz, said of the Yates case, "This is a white, middle-class family.

He recently discussed his role in the Yates case and his views on the practice of forensic psychiatry.

Bruck contended that a 1985 Supreme Court decision stating that the burden of proof of intent must be on the state, applied retroactively to the Yates case.

THE ultimate question the Yates case raises is this: Is there is a point where intervention should occur, where mothers at risk should be helped or children protected - even from their mothers?

Deborah W. Denno, a law professor at Fordham University who has studied and written extensively about the Yates case, was critical of other aspects of Dr. Dietz's testimony, too.

Frances Newton was a Harris County case, but the circumstances seem different from those in the Yates case.

The Yates case exposes serious flaws in how Texas - like most other states - determines criminal responsibility.

There is a more tragic message sent by the Yates case.