# Lindsay Clancy...child murderer or victim? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 19, 2026, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-clancy-child-murderer-or-victim/1033205 "2026-09-19T16:26:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-clancy-child-murderer-or-victim/1033205/121 "2026-09-30T20:33:23Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > > [@steronz](#): > > > > For the defense to now say “They didn’t present evidence of that Clancy even committed the killings” seems bogus. Under different conditions, the prosecution would have been different. > > I agree as to your logic. > > But attorneys often say one thing to the press, and something rather different to the court in the form of their filings. And this comment was to the press, not the Court. That argument was made to the judge at a hearing. > [@](#): > > Clancy’s lawyers urged Judge William Sullivan to find the Massachusetts woman not guilty of murder for the killing of her three young children in 2023. > > Her lawyer Kevin Reddington [argued](https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/lindsay-clancy-returns-court-key-hearing-after-us-murder-case-mistrial-2026-09-29/) there was a “total and complete lack of evidence” at the trial to prove she killed the children. > > That argument marked a shift after a lengthy trial in which the defense argued she could not be convicted of murder because she was mentally ill at the time. > > …Reddington told Judge William Sullivan that prosecutors failed to present any evidence at the trial proving she had in ​fact killed Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and 8-month-old Callan [https://www.reuters.com/live/live-lindsay-clancy-returns-court-after-murder-case-mistrial-2026-09-29/](https://www.reuters.com/live/live-lindsay-clancy-returns-court-after-murder-case-mistrial-2026-09-29/) [https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/lindsay-clancy-returns-court-key-hearing-after-us-murder-case-mistrial-2026-09-29/](https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/lindsay-clancy-returns-court-key-hearing-after-us-murder-case-mistrial-2026-09-29/) ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-clancy-child-murderer-or-victim/1033205/122 "2026-10-01T21:20:20Z")
Some quotes to consider from a newspaper article: > According to two psychiatrists interviewed for this story, there is inadequate recognition of postpartum psychosis among medical professionals in this country. If diagnosed, the condition is readily controlled by hospitalization and drug or electroshock therapy, the psychiatrists said. Untreated, however, the psychosis can become so severe as to cause the mother to commit suicide or infanticide … > > … The illness is a temporary condition that occurs in new mothers (the majority of whom have no prior history of mental illness) due to hormonal changes that are not yet completely understood, said San Francisco psychiatrist Dr. James Hamilton, who has treated more than 300 such cases. > > He cautioned that when the illness is used as a defense for infanticide, “One needs to have a certain amount of evidence of some sort that this is indeed a psychosis. It would be a disservice to sick people if a lot of non-sick people who are just garden-variety child abusers got under this wire.” … > > … Doctors are literally ignoring mothers to death on this thing … Nothing new in this article but the notable bit is that there is nothing new in it: this article was written nearly 40 years ago. > **[Ordeal of Postpartum Psychosis : Illness Can Have Tragic Consequences for New...](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-02-01-vw-60-story.html)** > > Angela Thompson was unusually preoccupied the last week of August, 1983. Anyway. Judge denied the defense motion. No surprise. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-clancy-child-murderer-or-victim/1033205/123 "2026-10-03T04:30:42Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > > [@DSeid](#): > > > > And that saying there is evidence but you didn’t bother presenting it (because you didn’t feel it was necessary given the not contesting) is possibly not enough. > > I wouldn’t go that far. Do we know that they didn’t present evidence she committed the actus reus at trial? The results are in: the prosecution _did_ present sufficient evidence of guilt at trial to “permit a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt” that the accused did the deed. > **[Judge denies Clancy defense motion asking to find her not guilty](https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/10/01/lindsay-clancy-not-guilty-defense-motion-denied)** > > Judge William Sullivan issued the decision Thursday, stating that prosecutors had offered enough evidence for a jury to decide whether Clancy was criminally responsible for killing her three children. Doesn’t mean the judge is saying she did it, only that there was enough evidence for a hypothetical reasonable juror to hang their hat on and convict, such that the judge won’t declare her not guilty himself. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-clancy-child-murderer-or-victim/1033205/124 "2026-10-06T04:30:38Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > The YouTube channel LegalEagle has an interesting video about how the mistrial works I love Mark Lopez. Every video of his is like a little sequel to _My Cousin Vinnie_. ---
**Author:** ![dcbwhaley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcbwhaley/32/21437_2.png) [@dcbwhaley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dcbwhaley)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-clancy-child-murderer-or-victim/1033205/125 "2026-10-07T17:35:52Z")
Don’t you do majority verdicts in USA? In UK the judge would have ordered a majority verdict and accepted 10-2 as an aquital ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-clancy-child-murderer-or-victim/1033205/126 "2026-10-07T17:38:00Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > ETA: Do you think mental psychosis should be a legal defense? I like the current legal definition of sanity, which entails the individual knowing what they were doing during the commission of the murder. By that definition, she needs to spend the rest of her life in prison. They can treat her there, but THERE she should be. ---
**Author:** ![keeganst94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@keeganst94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeganst94)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-clancy-child-murderer-or-victim/1033205/127 "2026-10-07T17:52:41Z")
I don’t think there is anywhere in the US that accepts majority verdicts in criminal cases. The verdict must be unanimous. Some states may allow it in civil cases. ETA: Apparently majority verdicts were allowed in state courts from 1972 until a Supreme Court decision concluded that unanimous verdicts were constitutionally required even in state courts in 2020. Cite: [U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimous verdicts required to convict for serious crimes | CBC News](https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ussc-unanimous-verdicts-1.5538476) ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-clancy-child-murderer-or-victim/1033205/128 "2026-10-07T18:03:31Z")
> [@keeganst94](#): > > Some states may allow it in civil cases. Yes, most states require 10 out of 12 (or 9 out of 12) for a civil verdict. There may be exceptions, but I’m not aware of any. Criminal cases (and federal civil cases) must be unanimous. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-clancy-child-murderer-or-victim/1033205/129 "2026-10-07T18:07:40Z")
In the past, some states allowed majority verdicts in criminal cases, but the Supreme Court held in Ramos v Louisiana in 2020 that the Constitution required unanimous verdicts. I think majority verdict is still possible in civil trails [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-clancy-child-murderer-or-victim/1033205.md?page=6)