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Life or death decision next for Yates jury

If the jurors decide on capital punishment for Yates, she would join seven other women on death row in Texas.

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- Now that jurors have found Andrea Yates guilty of murder for drowning her five children, the panel will next face deciding whether she dies by lethal injection or spends the rest of her life in prison.

The punishment phase of the trial begins Thursday, when the jury will begin hearing testimony. Whatever the jury decides, District Judge Belinda Hill cannot overturn the sentence.

Should jurors vote for life in prison, Yates, 37, would be sent to a facility chosen by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Most likely it would be the Skyview-Hodge unit in Rusk, Texas, where she could receive in-patient care.

She would be eligible for parole after 40 years.

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If jurors decide on capital punishment, Yates would join seven other women -- four white and three black -- on Texas' death row. Two of them, Francis Newton and Darlie Routier, were convicted of killing their own children.

The last woman to be executed in Texas was Betty Beets, who was put to death on February 24, 2000, for the beating death of her husband.

If the jury gets hung during sentence deliberations, Yates would automatically be sentenced to life in prison and would be eligible for parole in 40 years.

No matter what Yates' sentence is, defense attorneys are expected to file an appeal at the First Appellate Court in Houston.