Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts woman accused of killing her three children in 2023, will be back in court Monday for a hearing that could determine whether she will face a retrial.
uncertain
she → accuse → retrial
Her defense team is expected to argue that she can’t be retried on double jeopardy grounds, meaning a defendant cannot be prosecuted twice for the same crime in a bid to have the charges dismissed.
asserted
charges → expect → bid
In a motion Thursday, the prosecution asked the judge to reject Clancy’s motion to dismiss charges against her, arguing they have a right to seek justice for her three slain children, even though the first trial ended in a mistrial in September.
asserted
trial → ask → September
Clancy’s defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, however, indicated in the last week of the trial that he was ready to start a retrial as soon as possible.
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he → indicate → retrial
Days after the judge declared a mistrial in the state case, he also asked President Donald Trump to pardon his client.
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he → declare → client
Presidents can pardon only federal offenses.
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Presidents → pardon → offenses
The defense will also argue to preserve juror records and to investigate the lone holdout juror, whom other jurors have said was the sole roadblock to a unanimous decision.
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jurors → argue → decision
Prosecutors are expected to file a motion Monday that bars lawyers and law enforcement involved in the case from speaking to the media.
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that → expect → media
Clancy is accused of strangling her three children — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months old — with exercise bands on the evening of Jan. 24, 2023, before throwing herself out of her bedroom window in a suicide attempt that left her paralyzed and in a wheelchair.
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that → accuse → wheelchair
During her trial, Reddington argued that Clancy was experiencing postpartum psychosis and was compelled to act on auditory hallucinations when she carried out the killings.
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she → argue → killings
Prosecutors, however, have said she was aware of her actions and planned the murders ahead of time.
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she → say → time
She was not actually in psychosis when she killed the children, they said.
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they → kill → children
It remains unclear whether both sides will argue the same fact patterns if there is a retrial.
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sides → remain → patterns
The jury deadlocked three times, forcing Judge William Sullivan to declare a mistrial, despite Reddington’s best efforts to attempt a last-minute emergency stay.
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jury → deadlocke → stay
Supreme Judicial Court Associate Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt later denied it.
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Wendlandt → deny → it
The foreperson reported one holdout, who they said was not following the law of “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
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they → report → doubt
Jurors have since spoken out, with several pointing to one juror they said would not uphold the reasonable-doubt standard and was the only one of 12 jurors who wanted to convict Clancy.
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who → speak → Clancy
They said he would not engage in discussions and failed to provide evidence to support his reasoning.
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he → say → reasoning
The lone juror, Michael P. Desronvil, has since said he has felt harassed since the end of the trial and insisted he “didn’t have any doubts.”
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he → say → doubts
The trial captivated the nation as online sleuths peddled conspiracy theories that Clancy was not the one who killed the children.
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who → captivate → children
Rather, that her then-husband, Patrick Clancy, carried out the murders and framed her for it.
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husband → carry → it
In a statement following the first trial, Patrick Clancy’s lawyers slammed true-crime creators pushing the theories and called them a “campaign of misinformation” that was “publishing what they know to be outright falsehoods that Patrick was somehow involved in the death of his young children and other vile claims.”
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Patrick → follow → children
The lawyers added that “every appropriate measure will be pursued to hold them accountable, including legally” and that “law enforcement has been notified.”
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enforcement → add → ?
Patrick Clancy testified for the prosecution in the first trial, detailing the horrors he found at his home when he returned from running errands the night of the murders.
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he → testify → murders
He has also filed a civil suit against Clancy’s doctors, alleging that misdiagnoses and several prescription medications worsened her condition.
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misdiagnoses → file → condition
Reddington told NBC News that Clancy rejects those conspiracy theories about her ex-husband.
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Clancy → tell → husband
“She knows, and it’s readily apparent that Patrick has been set upon and his life has been turned upside down into a nightmare that he doesn’t deserve.
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he → know → that
Full stop,” Reddington said in September.
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Reddington → say → September
He added that after the trial, Clancy “was not very good” and remained “suicidal.”
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Clancy → add → trial
“She’s strong.
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She → ’ → ?
She has incredible family support,” he said of his client.
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he → have → client
I mean, she’s on 24/7, one-on-one suicide watch.
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she → mean → one
I worry about her every day.”
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I → worry → her
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