Prosecutors are asking a judge to deny Lindsay Clancy’s request to dismiss the murder charges against her, while stopping short of confirming whether they will pursue a second trial.
In a new filing, the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office maintained that the mistrial declared in September was lawful and properly justified.
Clancy, 36, had sought to have the charges dismissed after her attorneys argued that another trial would violate double-jeopardy protections, which generally bar someone from being prosecuted twice for the same offense.
Prosecutors countered that those protections do not apply in this case because double jeopardy prevents a second punishment after an acquittal or conviction, not a retrial following a valid mistrial.
Clancy has acknowledged fatally strangling her three young children at the family’s Massachusetts home in January 2023. She pleaded not guilty to murder by reason of insanity.
She said she was experiencing severe postpartum psychosis and had been overmedicated by doctors. Her trial came close to ending in an acquittal after 11 of the 12 jurors voted to find her not guilty.
Two months after the mistrial, prosecutors have yet to say whether they will seek a second murder trial or offer Clancy a plea agreement.
The development comes as Clancy’s former husband, Patrick, pursues a wrongful-death lawsuit against her former medical providers. His attorneys argued this week that the deaths of the couple’s children might have been prevented.
Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz has asked a judge to reject Lindsay Clancy’s bid to dismiss the murder charges, although his office has not committed to a second trial
Clancy faces three first-degree murder charges in connection with the deaths of her children, who were strangled with exercise bands at the family home in January 2023
In its latest opposition to Clancy’s dismissal request, the district attorney’s office cited the Karen Read case as an example of a defendant being tried again after a mistrial.
Read was accused of killing her boyfriend in Boston in 2022 by striking him with a vehicle. Prosecutors tried her twice after the first proceeding ended in a mistrial, and she was ultimately acquitted.
Clancy’s trial unraveled after a single juror refused to change his vote. Her attorneys later sought to overturn the mistrial, arguing that the juror had expressed reasonable doubt.
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The juror, Michael Desronvil, denied having reasonable doubt. In this week’s filing, prosecutors said the Supreme Court has previously ruled that “post-trial juror revelations about their deliberations” cannot be used to alter the legal analysis.
The legal disputes following Clancy’s mistrial have also complicated Patrick’s wrongful-death case against her former doctors, as his attorneys seek to compel Lindsay to testify.
Patrick’s attorney, Howard Cooper, said he believes Clancy may be able to take the stand once questions surrounding her Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination are resolved.
Patrick Clancy’s attorneys appeared in court Wednesday for a hearing in his wrongful-death lawsuit against his former wife’s doctors
A mistrial was declared in Lindsay Clancy’s case involving the January 2023 deaths of her children: five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan
Cooper said Clancy would testify that her doctors knew she had thoughts about harming her children but failed to intervene.
“You know who hasn’t testified yet, Your Honor? Lindsay Clancy,” Cooper said in court this week. “We allege in our complaint that she is going to confirm that she told these defendants that she had homicidal ideation.”
“We believe that Lindsay Clancy, once her Fifth Amendment issues are resolved, one way or the other, will testify that she told these defendants explicitly that she had homicidal ideation, that she was worried about something awful happening to her kids.”
However, Clancy’s attorneys disputed that assertion in a surprise filing Wednesday, saying she did not plan to testify in Patrick’s civil lawsuit.
Patrick’s complaint names several medical providers who testified during the closely watched criminal trial, including Dr. Jennifer Tufts and nurse Rebecca Jollotta. It alleges that they failed to provide appropriate treatment, which “resulted in tragedy, namely, allegations that Lindsay took the lives of her children.”
“If Defendants had not acted negligently, and rather had provided adequate care, it is more likely than not that Patrick and Lindsay’s children would still be alive today,” the lawsuit states.
Tufts and Jollotta, along with the other defendants—including South Shore Health System and Aster Mental Health—deny the allegations and have filed motions seeking to dismiss the lawsuit.
