Judge denies Clancy defense motion asking to find her not guilty

The judge overseeing the Lindsay Clancy case rejected a defense request to find her not guilty of killing her three children in 2023.

Judge William Sullivan issued the decision Thursday, stating that prosecutors had offered enough evidence for a jury to decide whether Clancy was criminally responsible for killing her three children — Cora, Dawson and Callan — in the basement of their Duxbury home.

“There was evidence introduced, both physical and circumstantial, that would permit a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt the elements of the charge of murder,” Sullivan’s ruling said.

The judge also found that although medical experts offered dueling testimony during the trial about whether Clancy was in a state of psychosis and should not be held criminally responsible, it was up to the jury to judge the expert testimony.

Legal experts said Sullivan’s Thursday ruling was not unexpected and that it is customary for defense attorneys to ask a judge to issue a not guilty finding after a trial has ended.

“This decision to raise the issue of whether the Commonwealth presented sufficient evidence to establish that Lindsay did it, that wasn’t a decision to challenge whether the evidence was really sufficient,” said criminal defense attorney Keith Halpern, who is not affiliated with Clancy’s case. “It was something that any lawyer in his position would’ve done.”

In a hearing earlier in the week, Clancy’s attorney Kevin Reddington argued that the prosecution had not offered enough evidence that Clancy committed the killings or that she was in her right mind. Halpern said judges rarely rule in favor of such arguments.

“You’re not making a judgment about the relative merits of one side versus the other,” Halpern said. “ It really has no bearing on anything going forward.”

Clancy’s case ended in a mistrial after jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict about whether she should be held criminally responsible for the children’s deaths as a result of her mental state. Prosecutors have said they are still evaluating whether to seek another trial for Clancy and whether she’d face first-degree murder charges again.

Sullivan is still considering several motions filed by both sides, including a defense motion to dismiss the case. Another court hearing is scheduled for November.

-NPR