HOUSTON -- Convicted killer Andrea Pia Yates, 37, was formally sentenced Monday to life in prison for drowning three of her five children.

MORE STORIES Lawyer Reads Yates' Thank You Note Yates' Husband Offended By Prosecution VIDEO Both Sides Discuss Insanity Law FEEDBACK Agree With Sentence? Agree With Yates Verdict? Your Thoughts On The Sentence SLIDESHOW See Family Pictures INFORMATION Read Transcript Of Yates' Interview With HPD POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION A Very Real Disease Postpartum Help: (805) 967-7636 Antidepressant Information Postpartum Stress Depression After Delivery Locate A Therapist In Your Area

Judge Belinda Hill imposed the jury's recommended sentence of life for the capital murder conviction.

Hill said, "Good luck to you, Mrs. Yates" after the sentence.

Hill also had the option of handing down a different sentence.

Yates faced the judge alone since none of her family members appeared in court. Most, including husband Russell Yates, were in New York City to appear on morning talk shows.

Defense attorney George Parnham said, on reflection, guilty was the best possible verdict.

"Not guilty by reason of insanity would never have produced the type of outpouring, concern and interest on both sides. People are taking stands. And that's great," Parnham said.

Parnham said Yates' case will serve as a lightning rod to change Texas law.

"The Texas law, as it presently exists, does not properly address people like Andrea Pia Yates," Parnham said.

Parnham said he's gathering support from the medical community and state legislators to help rewrite Texas law regarding insanity in relation to criminal acts.

Prosecutor Joe Owmby disagreed. He said that he sees nothing in the Yates' case that will affect Texas law.

"Changing the law, universally, to take into account what happened in this case -- that is jumping the gun. That is jumping to conclusions. And that is not a fair way to evaluate what we're doing in the area of the law of insanity," Owmby said.

After Yates was sentenced, her attorneys made three requests: that she remain in isolation in the Harris County Jail until she is transferred to the Texas prison system, once in the prison system that she be transferred to a special mental health unit outside Lubbock and that all of her medical records stay with her throughout her incarceration.

If those requests will be honored is not yet known.

On Friday, jurors took approximately 35 minutes to hand down a life sentence for Yates. The same jury took 3 and a half hours Tuesday to convict her of capital murder instead of finding her not guilty by reason of insanity.

Yates had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, contending it was severe psychosis from postpartum depression that drove her to kill 7-year-old Noah, 5-year-old John and 6-month-old Mary. Charges have not been filed in the deaths of Paul, 3, and Luke, 2.

A life sentence means that Yates must spend a minimum of 40 years in prison before she's eligible for parole in 2041.

Husband Plans To Appeal

Yates husband, Russell, plans to appeal her capital murder conviction.

Russell Yates told KPRC TV that he believes his wife has a good chance at an appeal based on a reference to a popular NBC television show.

In closing arguments, Harris County prosecutor Joe Owmby referred to an episode of "Law & Order" where a woman drowns her children and is acquitted using the insanity defense.

"These thoughts came to her. She watches 'Law & Order' regularly. She sees this program. There is a way out," Owmby told jurors Tuesday.

But that episode doesn't exist, according to the producers of the crime drama.

South Texas College of Law professor Neil McCabe agreed with Russell Yates that Owmby's misstatement is grounds for an appeal.

"That episode, that fictional episode, in cross-examining a defense witness and used in closing arguments, could very well have influenced the jury," McCabe said. "It certainly was the intent of the state to influence the jury."

Jurors were told to decide whether Andrea Yates knew right from wrong when she killed her children in determining her verdict.

Russell Yates said he believes the definition of insanity is unfairly narrow and he will try to get the law changed.

Although McCabe said he believes Andrea Yates deserves a new trial, he does not think she'll have much success with the Criminal Court of Appeals in Austin, which he said is very conservative.