Houston ? Andrea Yates once advised a fellow inmate that she could escape prosecution by pretending to be mentally ill and persuading a psychiatrist she suffered from serious disorders, according to court documents filed Thursday by prosecutors.

Felicia Doe, who spent four days in a jail block with Yates in 2002, told prosecutors last year that Yates instructed her not to eat, not to speak properly and not to be friendly or open in front of people if she wanted to “beat her case.”

Yates, who is awaiting a new trial in the drowning of her young children, allegedly said “if you could get the jail psychiatrist on your side, they could testify to your mental health, and they couldn’t prosecute you if you were sick,” according to the documents.

Yates’ defense attorney, George Parham, called the account “sad and ludicrous.”