A Massachusetts judge is preparing to declare a mistrial in the Lindsay Clancy case after jurors spent several days and more than 30 hours in deliberation.
Judge William Sullivan granted Clancy’s defense, Kevin Reddington, one hour in order to seek an emergency stay from the Supreme Judicial Court on Friday, September 4, per CNN.
Clancy, 36, was removed from the courtroom directly after the judge expressed his intent to declare a mistrial, CNN reported.
Clancy is facing the possibility of life in prison without the possibility of parole in connection with the murders of her three kids in January 2023. However, she would be sentenced to live in a secure state mental health facility instead of a prison if she was found not criminally responsible. If mental health professionals determine she is no longer a danger to herself or others, she could also be released from a facility and live her life as a free woman.
Clancy was arrested on January 24, 2023, after her then-husband, Patrick Clancy, called 911 to report that she had jumped from the second-story of their home after strangling their kids – Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 – to death.
She was taken to the hospital and remained in police custody. She was formally arraigned in her hospital bed on February 7, 2023. At the time, Lindsay was charged with three counts of first-degree murder.
Lindsay never denied that she killed her kids, though her attorney, Kevin Reddington, argued that she was not criminally responsible for the killings due to struggling with postpartum psychosis and bipolar depression at the time.
Throughout the trial, several doctors and loved ones testified about Lindsay’s mental state leading up to the killings.
On August 17, her mother, Paula Musgrove, testified that Lindsay was a dedicated and loving mother. She added that her mental health started to decline about three months before the killings in October 2022.
The jury was then shown a text that Clancy allegedly sent Musgrove.
“Mom, will you please come up and stay with me for a bit? I’m really sick. Something is wrong,” the message read, per the Associated Press. “I had horrible insomnia all night, and I just don’t know how I am going to get through the day. … It’s just really scary, and I don’t want to be alone.”
Musgrove added that Lindsay appeared nervous during one occasion in December 2022, when she told her mother and Patrick, 36, that she “had thoughts of harming the children.”
Musgrove said that Lindsay was scared to sleep alone in the months before the killings, while she also became increasingly paranoid.
Lindsay’s sister, Allison Ozga, also testified that same day and recalled Lindsay calling her in December 2022 and admitting she had suicidal thoughts every day for a month.
On August 11, psychiatric nurse practitioner Rebecca Jollotta testified that Lindsay asked to change her medications several times despite concerns that she should stick to a treatment plan.
Jollotta, who works at South Shore Hospital, created a plan to treat Clancy’s anxiety, depression and insomnia. They started to work on the plan together in late November 2022, but stopped working together the following month.
The psychiatric nurse practitioner said that Lindsay repeatedly sought changes to her medications, as well as claimed that they caused her to have intrusive thoughts, insomnia and numbness. Lindsay also said she was concerned about becoming dependent on the benzodiazepine Ativan, which she had been prescribed.
Jollotta said during her testimony that she believed Lindsay’s problems were most likely linked to postpartum depression instead of side effects from the drugs.
If you or someone you know is pregnant or just had a baby and is in crisis, help is available. Call or text the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline for free, confidential support 24/7 in English and Spanish at 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262).
