Postpartum depression murder trial — Massachusetts v. Lindsay Clancy

Currently Playing: Judge Recesses & Instructs Jury After Lindsay Clancy Sobs In Court

The judge in Lindsay Clancy’s trial abruptly recessed court today because she was crying at the defense table. Clancy began sobbing audibly as a medical examiner finished testifying about Cora, Dawson and Callan Clancy’s injuries. Prosecutors were calling another medical examiner to the stand when Judge William Sullivan said, “Hold on, Counsel. Hold on. We’re going to take a short break.” “This will be a very short break. We’ll come out. We’ll come right back,” Sullivan said. When court resumed about 30 minutes later, Sullivan said, “Well, members of the jury, I just kind of want to revisit an instruction I’ve given you a couple times.” "I think during the course of this trial, it’s important to understand and remember that sometimes there’s evidence that’s presented in the trial that creates an emotional reaction, and but as jurors who have taken an oath to follow the law, I’m instructing you that the law says you must separate any emotional reaction on your part from the informational value and weight that the evidence produces,” Sullivan said. “Your verdict in this case is going to have to be based solely on the evidence, and it is not going to be. It cannot be based on sympathy or anger or passion or prejudice. So you’ve got to keep that in mind,” the judge continued. Clancy, 35, is charged with three counts of murder for strangling her children in her home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, on Jan. 24, 2023. Her defense is that she’s not guilty because she was in a postpartum psychosis when she killed the children. Sullivan has been an associate justice for the Massachusetts Superior Court in Plymouth County since 2014. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame and Boston College of Law. #law #crime #court