Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother of three who killed her children, can be tried again for murder after her previous trial ended in a hung jury, a judge ruled Monday, Nov. 9.
"Because the Court concludes that there was a manifest need for a mistrial based on the jury’s deadlock," Judge William F. Sullivan wrote in a 16-page ruling alluding to the inconclusive end to Clancy’s previous murder trial, "a retrial on the murder indictments does not violate Clancy’s right not to be placed in double jeopardy."
Clancy’s lawyers had argued that the 36-year-old could not be tried because of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment, which prohibits prosecuting a person for the same crime twice. However, Sullivan said the rule did not apply
in Clancy’s case because of the end to her original trial, where one holdout juror didn't return a not guilty verdict.
USA TODAY has reached out to Clancy’s attorney for comment.
Sullivan’s ruling comes about two months after Clancy’s previous trial ended. In those proceedings, Clancy’s attorney did not dispute that she killed her children Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months, on Jan. 24, 2023, by strangling them with exercise bands in the basement of their Duxbury home. Clancy afterwards cut her wrists and neck and jumped out of a second-story window, leaving her paralyzed.
Her attorneys however argued that she can't be held criminally responsible, Massachusetts' version of the insanity defense, because she was suffering frompostpartum psychosis at the time of the killings.
The case sparked widespread attention around the nation for the spotlight it shone on postpartum depression and psychosis.
And multiple members of the jury accused a fellow juror of disregarding evidence and saying he would never return a not guilty verdict – even though he had reasonable doubt. He later released a statement through his attorney saying he "didn't have any doubts" about the Massachusetts mother's guilt.
Clancy’s legal team has previously said they want to launch an investigation into the holdout juror. They argue he should have been replaced with an alternate.
Sullivan said in court filings that striking the juror from the roster "for their thought process" would have gone beyond his purview.
Contributing by USA TODAY reporters Amanda Lee Myers and N'dea Yancey-Bragg.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lindsay Clancy can be retried for murder, judge rules
