Prosecutors said on Monday, November 2, that Lindsay Clancy will likely be tried a second time in the deaths of her three children, and Judge William Sullivan said he is leaning toward March for that trial, two months after her first jury deadlocked.
The disclosure came at a hearing of about three hours in Plymouth Superior Court, CBS News Boston reported. "This would be a retrial," Plymouth County prosecutor Jennifer Sprague told the court. It was the first time the prosecution had said so in open court. But Sprague said the office had not yet decided which charges it would bring or "how that will look," and she asked Sullivan not to set a date until he rules on several pending motions.
The charge question
Clancy's lawyer, Kevin Reddington, pressed for an answer. He asked why prosecutors had not said whether a second trial would be on first degree murder, a lesser charge, or no charge at all. The choice matters. CBS reported that if the state retries Clancy on second degree murder rather than first, she could choose to be tried by a judge instead of a jury.
Reddington also asked that Sullivan himself preside, citing the judge's coming retirement, which he called the "elephant in the room." "I want a trial. And I want it with you, and I want it this spring," he said. Sullivan did not set a date and scheduled the next hearing for November 16.
Three motions, no rulings
Sullivan took three disputes under advisement on Monday. Prosecutors asked for a gag order, arguing that Reddington's public statements were "calculated" and could taint a new jury pool. Defense lawyer Laura McConnell answered that Reddington speaks for Clancy, who has never given an interview.
The defense also asked the court to preserve records about the lone holdout juror, whom the court calls Juror Doe, alleging dishonesty on his juror questionnaire. The juror's own lawyer, Heather O'Connor, opposed the request. When Reddington used the juror's name in court, Sullivan cut him off.
Finally, defense lawyer Martin Weinberg argued that double jeopardy should bar a retrial, because two jury notes required the judge to question jurors further before declaring a mistrial. Sullivan pushed back, noting he had already questioned jurors. Sprague said the holdout "refused to agree," which is different from refusing to deliberate. As we explained in What Happens After a Hung Jury, a genuine deadlock normally allows the state to try again, so the defense must show the mistrial was not truly necessary.
Our timeline, by the day count
January 24, 2023: Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months, are killed at the family's Duxbury home. Clancy's own lawyer conceded at trial that she killed them. She pleaded not guilty, arguing she was not criminally responsible because of postpartum psychosis and overmedication.
September 4, 2026: The jury deadlocks, with 11 jurors for the defense and one holdout for guilt, as we reported in Lindsay Clancy Trial Ends in an 11-1 Hung Jury. By our count that was 1,319 days after the killings.
November 2, 2026: Prosecutors say a retrial is likely, 59 days after the mistrial.
November 16, 2026: Next hearing, 14 days later, when a trial date is to be discussed.
March 2027: The trial window Sullivan floated. Any March date would put the second trial more than four years after the deaths, and roughly six months after the first verdict failed.
Where Clancy is now
Clancy remains in custody at Tewksbury State Hospital under psychiatric care. She has been paralyzed since she jumped from a window the night of the killings and uses a wheelchair. Her civil lawyer, Rosemary Scapicchio, told CBS News that Clancy is on constant suicide watch, and said, "This was a psychiatric emergency, and it was never treated as a psychiatric emergency." Clancy is suing 11 medical professionals she saw before the killings, who dispute her claims. That suit is unlikely to move until the criminal case ends.
The core question for a second jury would be the same as the first. Massachusetts asks whether a mental illness left a defendant unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of her conduct or to conform it to the law, a test we walked through in How the Insanity Defense Works. Eleven jurors already answered it for Clancy. The prosecution's decision on the charge will show how much it believes a new panel would answer differently.
Two Taps News stories summarize reporting and the analysis discussed on Two Taps and Friends. They are not legal advice. Read our standards.
