Yates' lawyers seek halt to March 20 trial

HOUSTON (AP) -- Andrea Yates' attorneys asked an appeals court Thursday to halt her capital murder retrial, which is scheduled to begin March 20.
They argue the indictments against Yates, 41, for the drownings of her children should be dismissed and prosecution halted because of prosecutorial misconduct resulting in double jeopardy if she were to be tried again.
Attorney Wendell Odom said Yates' double jeopardy claims should be reviewed by the appellate court because "her claims are not frivolous or used as a tactic for delay."
Trial judge Belinda Hill rejected the double jeopardy claim earlier this month. Yates drowned her five children, ages 6 months to 7 years, in a bathtub in 2001.
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