Jurors in the Lindsay Clancy trial were sent home after just an hour of testimony Thursday morning, following their early dismissal Wednesday afternoon as well.
“It’s going to be a short day, but also gear up for a longer day tomorrow,” Judge William Sullivan told jurors. “If you’re going to hold it against anybody, hold it against me.”
The reasons for the dismissal were not stated, but on Wednesday, Judge Sullivan ended the day in court shortly after 2 p.m. ET, citing “an unforeseen circumstance.”
“This is not something we saw coming. But you’re not to speculate about what it is; you’re not to hold it against either side. It’s just something that we have to deal with,” Sullivan said, adding that the proceedings are still on schedule.
It is unclear whether the reasons for Wednesday and Thursday’s early releases are linked, and no further details have been released. Jurors in the trial have not been sequestered but are instructed not to read or watch anything related to the case.
Clancy is facing three counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of her three children — Cora, five; Dawson, three; and eight-month-old Callan — in January 2023. She has pleaded not guilty. Clancy jumped out a window after strangling the children to death and was paralysed in the fall. She now uses a wheelchair and has been held at a state hospital since the incident.
Before the jurors were sent home on Thursday, the defense’s witness, Chaplain Sheila Cavanaugh, was undergoing cross-examination by the prosecution, who were pressing her on why her notes did not mention that Clancy had been hearing a voice in her head urging her to harm her children and then herself.
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“I’m not there to evaluate the patient. I’m there to bear witness to their suffering,” said Cavanaugh, who visited Clancy in the hospital shortly after the incident. The chaplain said she has continued to see Clancy over the years, having visited her approximately 200 times at Tewkesbury State Hospital.
The defense was expected to rest its case by the end of this week, though it is unclear how the trial delays may now impact that timeline.
While Clancy has not denied killing the children, her defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, has argued that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and should not be held legally responsible for her actions.
Prosecutors, however, contend that Clancy planned and went through with the killings with a clear state of mind.
From Rolling Stone US
