Lindsay Clancy Seeks Insanity Acquittal After Mistrial

Lindsay Clancy’s defense attorney has asked a Massachusetts judge to find her not guilty of murder by reason of insanity after her trial ended in a mistrial.

Clancy, 36, has admitted to strangling her three children, aged five, three and eight months, in January 2023. She then cut herself with a knife and jumped from a second-story window in a suicide attempt that left her paralyzed.

During the six-week trial, the defense argued that Clancy suffered from postpartum psychosis and was not criminally responsible for her actions.

The jury deliberated for seven days but was unable to reach a unanimous verdict, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial.

According to defense attorney Kevin Reddington, 11 of the 12 jurors were prepared to find Clancy not guilty by reason of insanity, with a single juror preventing a unanimous verdict.

Juror Nick Dargie later told ABC that, if the case were tried again in the same way, he believed a jury would return an insanity acquittal “nine times out of 10”. Prosecutors have not yet announced whether they will seek a retrial. The judge is due to hear arguments on the defense motion on 29 September.

(Reuters, mja)