Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts woman accused of killing her three children in 2023, is back in court Monday for a hearing to determine whether she will face a retrial.
Her defense team is expected to argue that she cannot 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.
The team will also try to argue for reduced charges as an alternative, which could pave the way for a bench trial rather than a second jury trial.
In a motion Thursday, prosecutors asked a judge to deny Clancy’s motion to dismiss the charges against her, saying they were entitled to seek justice for her three slain children, even though the first trial ended in a miscarriage of justice in September.
However, Clancy’s defense attorney Kevin Reddington said in the final week of the trial that he was prepared to start a retrial as soon as possible. Days after the judge declared a mistrial in the state’s case, he also asked President Donald Trump to pardon his client. The president can only pardon federal crimes.
The defense will also argue for the preservation of the jury record and an investigation into the lone holdout who others say was the only obstacle to a unanimous decision.
Prosecutors are expected to file a motion on Monday to bar attorneys and law enforcement officials involved in the case from speaking to the media.
Clancy is accused of strangling her three children – Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months – with an exercise band on the night of January 24, 2023, before committing suicide by jumping out of their bedroom window, leaving her paralyzed and in a wheelchair.
During the trial, Reddington argued that Clancy suffered from postpartum psychosis and was forced to act on auditory hallucinations when he carried out the killings.
However, prosecutors said she was aware of her actions and planned the murder in advance. They said she was not actually insane when she killed the child.
It’s unclear whether both sides would argue the same fact pattern if the case were retried.
The jury deadlocked three times, forcing Judge William Sullivan to declare a mistrial, despite Reddington’s best efforts to obtain a last-minute emergency stay. Supreme Court Associate Justice Dalila Algaz Wendlandt later denied this.
The foreman reported a holdout, saying the man failed to comply with the “beyond a reasonable doubt” law.
Jurors have since spoken out, including several jurors who pointed to a juror they said would not abide by the reasonable doubt standard and was the only one of the 12 who wanted to convict Clancy. They said he would not participate in discussions and failed to provide evidence to support his reasoning.
The lone juror, Michael P. Desronvil, has since said he felt harassed since the trial ended and insisted he had “no doubts.”
The trial drew national attention as internet sleuths peddled conspiracy theories that Clancy was not the child’s killer. Instead, her then-husband, Patrick Clancy, committed the murder and framed her for it.
In a statement after the first trial, Patrick Clancy’s attorneys lashed out at true-crime makers pushing the theories, calling them a “misinformation campaign” that “published what they knew were outright lies that Patrick was somehow involved in the death of his young child and other despicable accusations.”
The lawyers added that “all appropriate measures will be taken to hold them accountable, including legal liability” and that “law enforcement has been notified.”
Patrick Clancy testified for the prosecution at the first trial, detailing the horrific scene he found in his home after returning from errands on the night of the murder. He also filed a civil lawsuit against Clancy’s doctors, alleging misdiagnosis and several prescription drugs worsened her condition.
Reddington told NBC News that Clancy denies conspiracy theories about her ex-husband.
“She knows, and it’s clear, that Patrick has been framed and his life has been turned upside down and turned into a nightmare that he doesn’t deserve. That’s it. Period,” Reddington said in September.
He added that Clancy was “not doing well” after the trial and was still “suicidal.”
“She’s strong. She has incredible family support,” he said of his client. “But she’s suicidal. I mean, she’s on 24/7 one-on-one suicide watch. I worry about her every day.”