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The trial of Lindsay Clancy, an American woman accused of killing her three children in 2023, came to an end this Thursday with closing arguments, after which the jury will deliberate on whether she was criminally responsible or suffered from postpartum psychosis, which will determine if she serves time in prison or a mental institution.
Clancy, 36, has been on trial for the last three weeks, amid great media anticipation, in a Massachusetts court (northeastern U.S.) for the strangulation of her children Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months, on January 24, 2023, after which the woman unsuccessfully attempted suicide and was left partially paralyzed.
The case judge, William Sullivan, instructed the jury this morning to evaluate the content of the trial, in which nearly a hundred witnesses participated, including experts, taking into account that the prosecution had to prove beyond any doubt that the woman was aware of her actions for her to be convicted of murder, a criminal offense, according to ABC.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder.
Clancy "is not criminally responsible for her conduct if she has a mental disease or defect, and as a result of that, lacks the substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality or wrongfulness of her conduct, or to conform her conduct to the requirements of the law," the judge told the jury, which consists of 12 women and 6 men.
The jury has the option of considering her guilty of first-degree murder but also second-degree, which is less serious, and ultimately the judge included the crime of involuntary manslaughter, a point the prosecution opposes. They may also decide to find her not guilty of the charges by reason of insanity.
Clancy's lawyer, Kevin Reddington, said today in his closing arguments that the woman was a "very good mother" but received poor mental health treatment from a psychiatrist with barely any experience, was overmedicated, and sought help from those around her without success before suffering from postpartum psychosis in which she killed the children.
"My God, what was she supposed to do? She was asking for help and they weren't giving it to her," said the lawyer, according to CBS.
Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague, for her part, pointed out in her segment that there was no doubt about Clancy's mental illness, but the important thing is whether she "knew how to distinguish right from wrong" when she killed her children, and added that she had better health benefits than other people, with maternity leave, family support, and "resources."
She also highlighted that Clancy had training as a nurse, which meant she could have had knowledge of her treatment, and sentenced that she "planned" the deaths, taking advantage of the fact that her husband, Patrick, had gone out to run errands, after which she left her children lifeless "discarded on the basement floor."
The prosecutor brought up similar crimes of mothers who killed their children, such as Andrea Yates, to discredit the argument that Clancy heard a voice that urged her to kill, noting that she only heard it "once," while Yates heard them "for months."
Arguments are expected to conclude by noon this Thursday and the judge is to offer jury instructions two hours later, in which he will explain the rules for deliberation. Deliberations can last for hours or days.
[Publicidad]