Plymouth (United States) (AFP) – The lawyer for Lindsay Clancy urged a judge Tuesday to acquit the US mother accused of murdering her three children after a jury failed to reach a verdict in the high-profile case. Clancy, 36, did not deny at trial strangling Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months, but claimed she was suffering from postpartum psychosis — excusing her from criminal responsibility.
A jury of nine women and three men was this month unable to reach a unanimous decision, as required in criminal proceedings in the United States, leading to a mistrial. “This entire case is based on speculation,” Kevin Reddington, who is defending Clancy, told a Massachusetts court during a hearing on whether there will be another trial. He wants the judge to enter a not-guilty verdict, essentially dismissing the case after a weeks-long, televised trial that has captivated Americans.
“Where is the evidence she did this?” said Reddington, who 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 dismissed the claim of insufficient evidence as a “laughable argument.” Judge William Sullivan adjourned the hearing until November 2 and raised the possibility of setting a new trial date depending on how he rules on the defense’s motion.
He will also consider the defense’s push to release additional information on the jury deliberations, which lasted seven days. 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. 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 of her children 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
