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.
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The judge in Lindsay Clancy's trial today specially instructed jurors not to consider religion after a prosecutor asked Clancy's former mother in law if she knows the Catholic Church considers murder a "mortal sin." Susan Clancy, a labor and delivery nurse, testified as a defense witness. Assistant District Attorney Shanan L. Buckingham cross-examined her about Lindsay's condition in the months before she killed her three children on Jan. 24, 2023. She asked Clancy near the end of the exam, "Are you an active member in the Catholic Church?" and Clancy answered, "Yes." "So you're aware that murder is considered a mortal sin?" Buckingham asked. Clancy never answered as Judge William Sullivan immediately interjected: "Counsel, can I see you over here?" The side bar lasted about 65 seconds. The courtroom camera didn't record the beginning of Judge Sullivan's instruction, but there's no way he didn't tell the jury anything other than not to consider the witness' religion when deciding the case. "And what that means is you are not to consider it for any reason or any purpose. Okay?" said Sullivan, who presides in Plymouth County Superior Court in Massachusetts. Buckingham is the lead prosecutor in the case against Clancy, who is charged with three counts of murder. Clancy's defense is that she's not guilty because she was experiencing postpartum psychosis and didn't understand her actions so can't be held criminally responsible. Buckingham has been a licensed lawyer in Massachusetts since November 2011. She earned her law degree from Northeastern University School of Law.