Yates' conviction is thrown out

Houston

Yates' conviction

is thrown out

Texas' highest criminal court Wednesday upheld a lower-court ruling that threw out Andrea Yates' murder convictions for drowning her five children in a bathtub in 2001.

Harris County Assistant District Attorney Alan Curry said the case will be retried or a plea bargain considered. Jurors rejected Yates' insanity defense in 2002 and found her guilty of capital murder.

A lower-court ruling in January had thrown out the convictions because of erroneous testimony that prosecutors used to suggest that Yates had gotten the idea for the killings from an episode of the television show "Law & Order." The episode was found later not to exist.

Yates' attorney, George Parnham, said that although he wants to avoid another trial for his client, he doubts he and prosecutors can reach a plea agreement that addresses Yates' mental-health needs. Yates has been treated for years for severe depression and other disorders that require anti-psychotic drugs.

Huntsville, Texas

Execution is state's

17th of the year

A Texas man convicted of strangling a teacher during a sexual assault in 1993 was executed by lethal injection Wednesday.

Charles Daniel Thacker, 37, was the 17th person put to death this year in Texas, which leads the nation in capital punishment.

Thacker was condemned for strangling Karen Crawford during an attempted rape in a restroom at her northwestern Houston apartment complex.

Los Angeles

2 men indicted

in missile smuggling

A federal grand jury indicted two men Wednesday for allegedly conspiring to smuggle three surface-to-air missiles into the United States for use abroad. Such missiles are designed to bring down aircraft.

The U.S. attorney's office said the charges marked the first time a 2004 anti-terrorism law has been used. The law calls for a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years and the possibility of life in prison without parole if convicted.

Chao Tung Wu, 51, and Yi Qing Chen, 41, are naturalized U.S. citizens born in China, authorities said. The men are accused of agreeing to arrange shipment of the missiles from a country that is not named in the indictment.

The conspiracy did not involve domestic terrorists, and the two men were told by an undercover agent that the missiles would be sent abroad, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office.

Martinez, Calif.

17-year-old pleads

not guilty to murder

A teenager accused of killing a prominent attorney's wife pleaded not guilty to murder Wednesday.

Scott Dyleski, 17, who appeared briefly in Contra Costa County Superior Court, is accused of killing his neighbor, Pamela Vitale.

Vitale, wife of defense attorney and television commentator Daniel Horowitz, was found dead Oct. 15 in a mobile home at the Lafayette hilltop estate where the couple was building a home.

Compiled from The Associated Press and Reuters