The Massachusetts jury in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial resumed deliberations Monday as they debated questions around reasonable doubt, criminal responsibility and mental illness.
Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse, has pleaded not guilty in the killings of her children Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months.
Both the prosecution and defense agree Clancy fatally strangled her children with exercise resistance bands on January 24, 2023. To secure a murder conviction, prosecutors have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt she intentionally caused their deaths and is “criminally responsible.”
Judge William Sullivan explained the legal meaning of criminal responsibility to the jury at the start of the trial:
Under Massachusetts law, a “mental disease or defect” does not need to fit into a formal medical diagnosis. Both sides agree Clancy had postpartum mental health issues beginning in September 2022.
