HOUSTON -- The attorneys for accused child killer Andrea Yates filed a pre-emptive strike Tuesday, asking for a hearing before a jury to prove that Yates is incompetent to stand trial.

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Yates' Attorneys Files Motion

Defense attorneys Wendel Odom and George Parnham filed an affidavit that said that they have been unable to communicate with her since she was arrested.

They said that they have met with her every day and have been unable to communicate with Yates.

The attorneys also received Yates' medical records Tuesday and said that they detail a history of depression, attempted suicides and psychosis.

"The abnormality of this tragic event speaks to a person that is not in the real world mentally," Parnham said.

Odom and Parnham said that they question Yates' competency and that psychologists and psychiatrists who have examined her since her arrest contend that she is in a psychotic state and is incompetent to stand trial.

The attorneys also said that they have found evidence that suggests that Yates was severely ill at the time her children were drowned.

If Yates' attorneys can prove that she was mentally ill when her children were killed, she may meet the legal definition of being mentally incompetent.

If her attorneys can prove that she is mentally incompetent, legal proceedings against Yates would stop and she would be remanded to a mental hospital.