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LONG CENTER PRESENTS A .44414.9*; Photos by Richard Termine JANUARY 29 TheLongCenter.org 1512.474.LONG Tickets also available at the 3M Box Office at the Long Center. Groups 15+ call 457-5161. attacked her baby. Her doctor planned to offer her a different drug, but before that could happen, Sanchez had one of her frequent fights with Buchholz. On July 20, she left him and descended into crisis. Emotional stress often exacerbates postpartum depression. Sanchez soon found herself in the emergency room at Metropolitan Methodist, asking for help. After the hospital ushered her out the door with little more than an information sheet, there was still one last opportunity to prevent the killing. On the afternoon of July 25, 12 hours before the attack, Sanchez visited Buchholz and his mother, Kathleen. Sanchez had been living with her relatives and wanted to retrieve from Buchholz the baby’s diaper bag and her medication. She hadn’t taken a pill in eight days. Buchholz’s mother noticed that Sanchez seemed erratic and paranoid. Neither Buchholz nor his mother would agree to an interview for this story. A relative who answered the phone at Buchholz’s home said he’s no longer speaking with reporters. This account comes from Camara, the attorney, who has interviewed everyone who was present that afternoon. At one point, Sanchez refused to let Kathleen Buchholz hold the baby because she feared Kathleen was trying to steal her son or breastfeed him. The Buchholzes told Sanchez that she needed to seek help. At that, Sanchez abruptly got up and fled the house. Kathleen Buchholz called law enforcement and told officers that Sanchez had run off with the child and was an unstable schizophrenic. The officersmembers of the Bexar County Sheriff’s Departmenttook no action. IN THE WEEKS AFTER THE ATTACK, prosecutors confronted a difficult decision: Should Otty Sanchez face criminal charges or be sent to a state hospital for treatment? Despite the evidence that Sanchez was insane at the time of the killing, some in San Antonio openly called for the death penalty. They included Scott Buchholz, who told a San Antonio television reporter in late July that “I think she should be punished to the fullest extent of the law…. She killed my son. She should burn in hell.” Prosecutors eventually decided to pursue a criminal case. In September, a grand jury indicted Sanchez for capital murder. In jail, Sanchez has received the counseling and medication to which she had such spotty access on the outside. Her mental condition has stabilized, for the moment. As a result, she’s been found competent to stand trial after examinations by experts appointed by both the court and her defense attorney. Examiners concluded that she understood the legal process and the charges against her. If she remains stable, Sanchez will likely stand trial this summer. Camara plans to have Sanchez plead not guilty by reason of insanityjust as Andrea Yates did. He thinks he has a strong case, but jury trials are unpredictable. Take the Yates case: At her first trial for killing her five children in 2002, she was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. That conviction was later overturned on appeal, and in 2006, Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Prosecutors have said they plan to seek the death penalty for Sanchez. If they do, the very state that for years offered Otty Sanchez so little treatment and help for her mental illness will try to execute her. El JANUARY 8, 2010 “They’re the best. There’s no one like them, no one in their league.” Larry King, CNN Enjoy a dose of humor and musical madness. These former Congressional staffers serve up their brilliant, wickedly funny parodies of popular American songs with political humor that rivals Saturday Night Live. Get ready for some non-partisan bashing of Republicans, Democrats and Independents.