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)
Judge William Sullivan this morning instructed jurors on the charges they'll consider when they begin deliberating in Lindsay Clancy's murder trial. Sullivan split the instructions into two portions. He instructed on the charges before closing arguments, then instructed on the law after. 05:12 "I want to talk first about the issue of criminal responsibility. All right. Now, to prove the defendant guilty of any crime, the Commonwealth must first prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was criminally responsible at the time the alleged crime was committed." "The Commonwealth bears the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crime with which she is charged, and also that the defendant is criminally responsible for her conduct, the defendant has no burden to prove a lack of criminal responsibility. Criminal responsibility is a legal term." "A person is not criminally responsible for her conduct if she has a mental disease or defect, and as a result of that mental disease or defect, she lacks the substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality or wrongfulness of her conduct, or to conform her conduct to the requirements of the law." 05:48 "Criminal responsibility is a legal term. A person is not criminally responsible for her conduct if she has a mental disease or defect, and as a result of that mental disease or defect, she lacks the substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality or wrongfulness of her conduct, or to conform her conduct to the requirements of the law." "The phrase "mental disease or defect" is a legal term, not a medical term. It need not fit into a formal medical diagnosis. The phrase "mental disease or defect" does not include any abnormality characterized only by repeated criminal conduct. It is for you to determine, in light of all the evidence, whether the defendant had a mental disease or defect." 10:16 "If a defendant is found not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility, the district attorney or another appropriate authority may and generally does petition the court to commit the defendant to a mental health facility or to Bridgewater State Hospital." "If the court concludes that the defendant is mentally ill and that her discharge would create a substantial likelihood of serious harm to herself or others, then the court will grant the petition and commit the defendant to a proper mental health facility or to Bridgewater State Hospital. Periodically, the court reviews the order of commitment." "If the defendant is still suffering from mental disease or defect and is still dangerous, then the court will order the defendant to continue to be committed to the mental health facility or to Bridgewater State Hospital. There is no limit to the number of such renewed orders of commitment, as long as the defendant continues to be mentally ill and dangerous." 12:08 "The defendant is charged with three separate indictments charging murder, one count each relating to Cora Clancy, Dawson Clancy and Callan Clancy. The instructions I'm going to give now apply to each separate indictment relating to each child. There are two different degrees of murder. There is murder in the first degree, and there is murder in the second degree. If you find the defendant guilty of murder, you shall decide the degree of murder." 13:49 "I'll first define the elements of murder in the first degree with deliberate premeditation to prove the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree..." 16:14 " In deciding whether the defendant intended to kill the deceased and whether she formed that intent with deliberate premeditation, you may consider any credible evidence that the defendant suffered from a mental impairment or was affected by her consumption of prescription drugs. A defendant may form the required intent and act with deliberate premeditation, even if she suffered from a mental impairment or consumed prescription drugs, but you may consider that evidence." 19:14 "The first way of proving intent that the defendant intended to kill is the same as the second element of murder in the first degree with deliberate premeditation, which I discussed a few minutes ago, the second and third ways of proving intent are different from any element of murder in the first degree with deliberate premeditation. So, the second way is that the defendant intended to cause grievous bodily harm to Cora Dawson and/or Callan Clancy." 24:24 "Two, that the defendant a intended to kill Cora Clancy, Dawson Clancy, and/or Callan Clancy, or B, intended to cause grievous bodily harm to Cora Clancy, Dawson Clancy, and/or Callan Clancy, or C, intended to do an act which, in the circumstances known to the defendant, a reasonable person would have known created a plain and strong likelihood that death would result." "The requirements of proof for murder in the second degree are the same."