PLYMOUTH, Mass. — The high-profile murder trial of Lindsay Clancy is entering a new phase Monday as prosecutors and defense attorneys begin the process of selecting a jury.
Both sides will work to seat a panel of 18 jurors, consisting of 12 deliberating jurors and six alternates.
Clancy faces murder charges in the deaths of her 5-year-old daughter, Cora, her 3-year-old son, Dawson, and her 7-month-old baby, Callan. She has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors allege Clancy used exercise bands to kill her kids before jumping out of a second-floor window in a suicide attempt at her Summer Street home in Duxbury on the evening of Jan. 24, 2023.
Clancy survived but is now paralyzed.
Clancy’s defense team is expected to center its case on her mental state at the time of the killings, arguing that she was suffering from postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis and was not receiving adequate treatment.
Defense attorneys have also raised concerns about the medications Clancy was prescribed before the deaths. A key issue at trial is expected to be whether Clancy could form the intent necessary for a murder conviction and whether she can be held criminally responsible for her actions.
The trial is expected to last up to eight weeks in Plymouth Superior Court. Legal experts say that it is larger than a typical superior court jury and reflects the expected length and complexity of the case.
“Was she able, based on her mental state, the postpartum depression diagnosis, which has been reported, her medication or over-medication, was she able to formulate the requisite intent for murder? And can she be held liable and responsible for that under the law?” Boston defense attorney Elyse Hershon told Boston 25 News.
The defense had sought to call other women who have experienced postpartum depression to testify about their experiences, but Plymouth Superior Court Judge William Sullivan denied that request.
More than 200 potential witnesses have been identified by prosecutors and defense attorneys, underscoring the scope of what is expected to be one of the most closely watched criminal trials in Massachusetts in recent years.
Earlier this month, prosecutors dropped three strangulation charges against Clancy.
Sullivan recently ruled that jurors will be allowed to hear the 911 calls placed after Lindsay Clancy’s husband discovered their three children dead.
Clancy might excuse herself from the trial when graphic testimony is introduced, according to her lawyer.
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