Lindsay Clancy returned to the Massachusetts courtroom Tuesday, September 29, as her lawyers asked a judge to dismiss the murder charges against her, weeks after the jury deadlocked in her high-profile trial.
The 36-year-old is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the January 2023 strangulation deaths of her children Cora (5), Dawson (3), and Callan (8-month-old) at the family’s Duxbury home.
She admitted killing them before attempting suicide by cutting herself and jumping from a second-story window. This left her paralyzed. Her lawyers argue she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and shouldn’t be held criminally responsible.
Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial on September 4 after jurors split 11-1 for acquittal, with a single holdout blocking a unanimous verdict.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington has filed motions seeking dismissal, arguing a retrial would violate Clancy’s double jeopardy rights because the judge declared a mistrial without “manifest necessity” and declined to question the holdout juror.
The defense also asked Sullivan to find Clancy not guilty, saying prosecutors presented insufficient evidence.
Prosecutors pushed back Tuesday, September 29, filing a motion opposing the not-guilty request and seeking a gag order barring lawyers from making statements to the media, referring to “inflammatory” comments by Reddington that they say tainted the jury pool.
Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz has not announced whether he will retry the case. Clancy remains in custody at Tewksbury State Hospital, where she has been held since 2023.
The holdout juror, Michael Desronvil, said in a video statement that the focus should be centered on “the three angles.” The case has renewed national debate over postpartum mental health care in the U.S.
2026-09-29 18:27:00
