A jury is to determine whether Lindsay Clancy is criminally responsible for killing her three children in 2023 in Duxbury, Massachusetts. She was being treated for postpartum mental health issues when she killed the children: Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, who was 8 months old. Plymouth County Superior Court Judge William Sullivan is presiding over the jury trial, which began on July 27 and is expected to last six to eight weeks.
Curated by: Meghann Cuniff (223 videos)
The jury in Lindsay Clancy's trial heard final instructions from Judge William Sullivan after attorneys gave closing arguments today (Thursday, August 27, day 22). 02:07 "Once again, the indictments against Ms. Clancy are only an accusation; they're not evidence. The defendant has denied that she's guilty of the crimes charged in these indictments. The law presumes the defendant to be innocent of the charges against her." 05:01 "My function as a judge in this case has been to see that the trial is conducted fairly, efficiently, and in an orderly manner. It's also my responsibility to rule on what you may consider as evidence and to instruct you on the law that applies in this case. It's your duty as jurors in this case to accept the law as I stated to you, you should consider all of my instructions as a whole." "You may not ignore any instruction or give special attention to any one instruction. You must follow the law as I give it to you, whether you agree with it or not. That's not just because I'm the judge. It's because every person who comes to court for trial is equal and is subject to the same law, and if jurors in each case were to apply what they thought the law should be, and the jurors in different cases had different views, then the parties in those cases would not be treated equally." 09:00 "The evidence consists of the testimony of witnesses, as you recall it, and any documents, photographs, or videos, or other things that were received into evidence as exhibits. You may also consider any observations that you made while at the view that we took earlier in the trial. In this case, there may be certain documents or photographs that are entered multiple times. This does not mean that that evidence is any more or less important than any other evidence." 10:33 "Some things that occur during a trial are not evidence, and you may not consider them as evidence in deciding the facts of this case, a question put to a witness is never evidence. Only the answers are evidence. So, if a witness agrees with a fact or a proposition contained in a question, then the fact or proposition agreed to is evidence. However, if a witness disagrees with a fact or proposition contained in a question, then the fact or proposition is not evidence simply because it was suggested in the question. You would have to look elsewhere for evidence about that issue. You may not consider any answers that I've stricken." 15:42 "Now, I want to talk a little bit about prior inconsistent statements. When you evaluate the testimony the witness gave here in court, you may consider whether that witness made any earlier statements that differ from or contradict in any way their in court testimony."T 21:38 "Now, you may have noticed that Ms. Clancy did not testify at this trial. The defendant has an absolute right not to testify, since the entire burden of proof in this case is on the Commonwealth to prove that the defendant is guilty. It is not up to the defendant to prove that she is innocent." 24:12 "Now, I want to talk a little bit about some photographs. The Commonwealth has introduced certain photographs depicting the victims. You'll have those photographs with you during your deliberations. The images depicted are not pleasant, as I instructed you at the time they were introduced." "Your verdict must not, in any way, be influenced by the fact that these images are unpleasant or graphic. The defendant is entitled to a verdict based solely on the evidence, and not one based on pity or sympathy for the decedents, which might be occasioned by the images depicted. Consider those exhibits only as they may draw attention to a clinical, medical status, or nature of the victim's injuries, the cause of their death. Or to the nature of the incident itself." 26:36 "before I go any farther, I have to do one more duty, and that's to select the foreperson of the jury..." 30:18 "To avoid having to start the trial all over again, if that should occur, we impaled in this case 18 jurors, even though the case will be eventually decided by 12 of you, and we made that decision because this was a lengthy case over the summer. The time has now come to reduce that number." "This is especially difficult in this case, where all 18 of you have been equally dedicated and attended to this case during the course of this trial, but the case is to be decided by 12. Alright, and so the way it's done is the clerk will draw the alternates names." 38:38 bailiffs sworn "Do each of you solemnly swear that you will take charge of this jury?" 39:07 "members of the jury, you may now retire to consider your verdict" 39:59 "Unless you've tried a difficult murder like this one, you may not be aware how difficult and tough it is to try a case like this."