Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother accused of strangling her three children to death in 2023 whose trial ended in a hung jury on Sept. 4, will likely be retried, prosecutors said on Monday.
During a hearing on Monday, Clancy returned to court for a motion to dismiss the charges that she murdered her children. It was the second time she’s headed to court following her first trial.
On Monday, the defence argued to dismiss the charges citing double jeopardy, a legal rule that protects an accused person against being prosecuted by the state twice for the same crime. Prosecutors argued that double jeopardy “does not bar the Commonwealth from seeking justice on behalf of the three victims.”
According to Associated Press, Clancy’s attorney Kevin Reddington asked the judge to investigate the sole holdout juror, Michael P. Desronvil, bringing into question the juror’s use of a cell phone while the jury deliberated, alleging the juror researched terms related to the case. He also questioned if the juror had been telling the truth during jury selection in terms of disclosing previous criminal history that may have affected whether he would be selected, which if true would be a “fatal infection of the independence, the honesty and the integrity of this juror.”
Heather O’Connor, an attorney for Desronvil, said the defence were able to question the juror prior to the trial, accepted him, and only began to challenge his credibility once he became a holdout. She also disputed the cellphone allegation.
Things became heated between Judge William Sullivan and Reddington after Reddington publicly identified the holdout juror, with Sullivan alleging this was potentially confidential information. Reddington claimed the name was already “all over the internet,” but then acquiesced and stopped using the name.
Sullivan also heard arguments from the prosecution’s request for a gag order to restrict public statements from the attorneys involved, which could affect future court proceedings.
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Clancy’s triple-murder trial ended in a mistrial after jurors said they were deadlocked and a higher court rejected the defence’s bid to intervene in the deliberations. The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict with the vote remaining 11-1 for at least two days.
Clancy had admitted to strangling her three children to death in January 2023, with her defence lawyers arguing she was in the throes of psychosis and should not be held criminally responsible. Meanwhile, prosecutors argued that while Clancy was deeply troubled, she understood that what she was doing was wrong. They asked the jurors to convict her of three counts of first-degree murder.
At the hearing on Monday, Sullivan did not immediately rule on the motion to dismiss. Prosecutors said they plan to retry Clancy if the case proceeds, but they have not identified if they would pursue the same charges. The next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 16, and if there is a retrial it could begin in March.
From Rolling Stone US
