PLYMOUTH, MA. (THECOUNT) — Lindsay Clancy remains on 24/7, one-on-one suicide watch following the mistrial in her Massachusetts murder case, as her attorney, Kevin Reddington, seeks to prevent a second trial in the deaths of her three young children. Clancy remains charged with murder.
Clancy is currently being held in a psychiatric facility and remains under constant observation, with a staff member assigned to monitor her following the conclusion of the closely watched trial. Reddington told NBC News that Clancy remains suicidal and that he worries about her every day.
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The development comes less than a week after Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial when the 12-member jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict after roughly seven days of deliberations.
According to Reddington and several jurors who have spoken publicly, the jury was divided 11-1 in favor of finding Clancy not criminally responsible by reason of insanity. The lone holdout prevented the panel from reaching the unanimous verdict required to resolve the case.
Clancy, 36, faces first-degree murder charges in the deaths of her children, Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months. She has admitted killing the children but pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility.
The killings occurred January 24, 2023, inside the family’s home in Duxbury, Massachusetts. Clancy’s defense argued that she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis and could not understand the wrongfulness of her actions.
Prosecutors argued that Clancy deliberately killed the children and understood what she was doing. The competing arguments over her mental state formed the central issue during the weeks-long trial.
After the jury deadlocked, Reddington initially objected to the mistrial and argued that deliberations should continue. He had also unsuccessfully sought to have the holdout juror removed during the deliberations.
Reddington has now filed a motion asking Sullivan to find Clancy not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility, arguing that prosecutors failed to present legally sufficient evidence to establish that she understood the wrongfulness of her actions.
The defense motion is scheduled to be addressed during a September 29 hearing. If the judge grants the motion, the case could end without a second murder trial. Prosecutors have not announced whether they intend to retry Clancy.
The mistrial does not amount to an acquittal, and Clancy remains charged while the court determines what happens next. A retrial, a defense motion seeking dismissal or acquittal, or other legal action could determine the next stage of the case.
Clancy was left paralyzed from the waist down after attempting suicide by jumping from a second-story window following the killings. She has remained in psychiatric care during the legal proceedings.
The case has drawn national attention because of the competing claims surrounding postpartum psychosis, criminal responsibility and the extent to which severe mental illness can affect a defendant’s ability to understand the wrongfulness of an act. The current legal dispute now centers on whether Clancy will face another trial or whether the judge will resolve the case without one.
Plymouth is the county seat of Plymouth County in southeastern Massachusetts, approximately 40 miles south of Boston and about 40 miles east of Providence, Rhode Island. Duxbury, where the killings occurred, is located approximately 10 miles north of Plymouth.
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