Jurors were instructed to disregard a question about Susan Clancy's faith in the murder trial of her former daughter-in-law, Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother accused of killing her three children.
During cross-examination Aug. 18, prosecutors asked Susan Clancy, a witness for the defense, if she was an active member of the Catholic Church. Upon her confirmation, she was further questioned on whether she was aware that murder was considered a "mortal sin."
Lindsay Clancy is on trial for murder in the January 2023 strangulation deaths of her three children – Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months – at the family's Duxbury, Massachusetts, home. The 36-year-old has pleaded not guilty to all three counts.
As Susan Clancy was preparing to respond
to the prosecutor's query, the judge struck the question from the record, asking jurors not to consider the inquiry "for any reason, or any purpose."
What is Lindsay Clancy's defense arguing?
One of the first witnesses called by the defense, Susan Clancy opened about her and Lindsay's relationship, offering insight about her state of mind in the time leading up to the killings.
Lindsay Clancy's defense team argues that she is not guilty because she lacks criminal responsibility, more commonly known as an insanity defense. Defense attorney Kevin Reddington says she was suffering from postpartum depression and psychosis at the time of the killings.
The prosecution, which rested their case Aug. 17 after weeks of witness testimony, said that Lindsay Clancy allegedly planned the killings by sending her husband to pick up takeout food and medicine, then, while he was gone, strangling the children to death with exercise bands. Afterward, she cut her wrists and neck and jumped out of a second-story window, leaving her paralyzed.
The case has garnered extensive publicity, drawing attention to postpartum mental health and sparking widespread conspiracy theories.
What could happen if Lindsay Clancy is found guilty?
Lindsay Clancy is facing three counts of first-degree murder. She has pleaded not guilty to all three counts.
While more commonly known as not guilty by reason of insanity, Clancy's defense under Massachusetts law is called lack of criminal responsibility.
According to a definition read in court by Judge William Sullivan, a person is not criminally responsible for their conduct if they have "a mental disease or defect, and as a result of that mental disease or defect, lacks the substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality or the wrongfulness of her conduct or to conform her conduct to the requirements of the law."
In Massachusetts, first-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
Under Massachusetts law, if a defendant is found not guilty or lacking criminal responsibility, they are typically committed to a state hospital for mental health treatment and evaluation.
Clancy has been held at Tewksbury Hospital, a facility in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, for court-ordered mental health treatment since May 2023.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lindsay Clancy trial jurors asked to disregard 'mortal sin' question
