New York (AFP) – A judge on Thursday denied an acquittal request by an American mother accused of murdering her three children, a court filing showed, weeks after a jury failed to reach a verdict in the high-profile case. During the trial, 36-year-old Lindsay Clancy did not deny strangling Cora, age five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months. But she claimed she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and sought to be excused from criminal responsibility. Judge William Sullivan, of the Plymouth court near Boston, ruled there was sufficient evidence to convince a juror of Clancy’s guilt. The judge has yet to decide whether she will face a retrial.
In September, a jury of nine women and three men was unable to reach a unanimous decision, as required in criminal proceedings in the United States, leading to a mistrial. Kevin Reddington, who is defending Clancy, had asked the judge to enter a not-guilty verdict, essentially dismissing the case after a weeks-long, televised trial that captivated Americans. “Where is the evidence she did this?” said Reddington previously. He also cast doubt on Clancy’s own admissions that she killed her children, in what would be a major shift from her mental health defense.
Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague disputed the claim of insufficient evidence as a “laughable argument.” Eleven jurors were in favor of finding Clancy not guilty by reason of insanity, but they were opposed by a single holdout who has spoken publicly about being sure of her guilt. Deliberations lasted seven days. The prosecution opposed the disclosures, saying they would have a “chilling effect” on the lone juror. Clancy’s trial, which featured more than 80 witnesses and days of distressing testimony, sparked debate in the United States over maternal mental health.
President Donald Trump has called the case a “horrible tragedy” and said he assumed there would be another trial. Clancy, who is being held at a psychiatric institution, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and said she heard a voice ordering her to kill her children. Her lawyers said this was caused by postpartum psychosis, a condition that medical experts say affects about one to two women in every 1,000 births. Prosecutors rejected that argument, saying Clancy had carefully planned the murders and was able to understand the consequences of her actions.
After the killings at the family home in Duxbury, Massachusetts in January 2023, Clancy cut her neck and wrists and jumped from a second-story window in an apparent suicide attempt that has left her paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair.
© 2024 AFP
