Lindsay Clancy loses daring bid to have her found not guilty of murdering her three children after mistrial

Lindsay Clancy has lost her legal bid to be found not guilty by lack of criminal responsibility for murdering her three children. 

The 36-year-old former nurse had asked Judge William Sullivan to acquit her on all charges because the state failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt and present sufficient evidence of her guilt. 

In what marked her first court hearing since a mistrial was declared earlier this months, Clancy's attorney Kevin Reddington argued on Tuesday that the prosecution's evidence was insufficient in two areas: both proving the identity of the 'individual who committed the crimes' and her 'criminal responsibility.' 

On Thursday, Judge Sullivan denied the motion writing that the evidence on both areas 'was sufficient to have satisfied any rational trier of fact beyond a reasonable doubt.'

Clancy is facing the prospect of being tried a second time after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict at the end of her six-week trial.

The mom-of-three was charged with three counts of first-degree murder for killing Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months old, inside the family home in the wealthy suburb of Duxbury, Massachusetts, on January 24, 2023.

The 36-year-old labor and delivery nurse strangled the children with exercise bands in the basement after sending her husband, Patrick Clancy, out of the home to run errands.

She then tried to kill herself, cutting her wrists and neck and jumping from the second-floor bedroom window. Clancy survived but was left paralyzed from the waist down.

Clancy speaks with her lawyer Kevin Reddington during proceedings in her murder trial

Justice William F. Sullivan denied the motion writing that the evidence 'was sufficient to have satisfied any rational trier of fact beyond a reasonable doubt' 

She did not deny killing her children but pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, saying she was suffering from severe postpartum depression and psychosis at the time.

After 38 hours of deliberations, the 12 jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict and, on September 4, a mistrial was declared. It turned out that a lone holdout juror, identified as Michael Desronvil, refused to join the other 11 in finding her not guilty by reason of insanity.

Inside Plymouth County Superior Court, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, Reddington argued that the judge should return a finding of not guilty because there was no evidence that she even killed her children. 

'This entire case is based on speculation. Where is the admission? Where did she say that she did this?' he asked.

Gesturing animatedly inside the jam-packed courtroom, he claimed that the former nurse had been demonized by everyone, including the president.

‘She's a demon and possessed and should be executed,' he claimed people were saying. 'This is coming from politicians, from President Trump, all the way down.'

Slamming the entire investigation into the children’s deaths, Reddington questioned: 'Where is the evidence that she did this?'

Sitting wheelchair-bound at the defense table, Clancy watched as Reddington and the prosecution sparred over whether she should stand trial for a second time. 

Reddington argued there was no blood on Clancy's socks after she cut herself and leaped from the bedroom window and, when she woke from a coma, she had no memory of killing her children, he said. 

Clancy was charged with murder after strangling her three children, Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan in 2023

Defense attorney Kevin Reddington questioned the investigation into Clancy as he argued for a required finding of not guilty

Instead, she was simply told by police that she had killed her children despite there being issues with the timeline of that day, he argued. 

Because of the shoddy investigation, the state had no probable cause that she was even the perpetrator of the crime, he claimed.

Prosecutor Shanan Buckingham branded his comments ‘laughable,’ saying this was the first time the defense had made this claim.

As well as lacking probable cause, Reddington also argued that there is no sufficient evidence to prove the 36-year-old is criminally responsible for the killings.

For a defendant to be found criminally responsible, a jury must determine two things: whether or not she was suffering a mental defect or disease at the time, and whether or not she could still control her actions or conform to the law despite her mental illness.

Reddington argued that the prosecution failed to prove its case on both points.

Firing back, Buckingham argued that a defendant who suffers from mental illness can commit crimes and still be criminally responsible. 

Judge Sullivan said he would take the matter under advisement and rule at a later date - before handing down his ruling on Thursday.

Several other motions and arguments are yet to be decided by the judge.

Arguments about the defense’s request to investigate the lone holdout juror, a defense motion to dismiss the case on double jeopardy grounds, and a motion from the state requesting a gag order preventing Reddington from speaking out about the case were all put on pause.

A date of November 2 was set for a follow-up hearing where those matters will be argued.

No new trial date was set – after the two sides both asked the judge to delay the matter and Reddington said he would not be available for a retrial until June. 

Judge Sullivan told the lawyers to prepare to set a date at the November 2 hearing.

As it stands, the prosecution is yet to confirm whether or not it will retry Clancy and, if so, on the same charges of first-degree murder or lesser charges.

When asked by reporters outside court, Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz said his office was still deciding its next course of action.