Judge William Sullivan pounded his fist on the bench Tuesday in Plymouth Superior Court, and the hearing grew tense within minutes.
The session marked Lindsay Clancy’s first courtroom appearance since her September 4 mistrial. Her attorney, Kevin Reddington, used it to ask Sullivan to acquit her.
“This entire case is based on speculation,” Reddington told the judge. He then asked, “Where is the evidence that she did this?” He also said there was “no evidence this woman killed those children.”
Those words reversed the course the defense followed at trial. Over five weeks, Reddington never disputed that Clancy caused her children’s deaths.
He argued instead that she suffered postpartum psychosis, heard a commanding male voice and could not legally appreciate her conduct.
Prosecutor Shanan Buckingham called the new claim “laughable.” She pointed to evidence and defense stipulations that jurors saw before they deadlocked.
Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the deaths of Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and eight-month-old Callan.
Prosecutors say she used exercise bands to strangle the children inside the family’s Duxbury home.
They say she first sent her husband, Patrick Clancy, out on errands she arranged so she could be alone with them.
Clancy then jumped from a second-story window. She suffered injuries that left her paralyzed from the waist down.
Reddington asked why investigators found no smeared blood in the places prosecutors say Clancy walked before the jump.
He also told the court that Clancy learned the details afterward and holds no independent memory of what happened inside the house.
Prosecutors responded with her own words. They said Clancy spoke of hearing a command voice while hospitalized, and they argue that statement connects her to the killings.
Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague told Sullivan, “The Commonwealth met its burden.”
She said mental illness alone does not remove criminal responsibility and said Clancy showed no outward signs of psychosis.
Sprague also laid out an “altruistic filicide” theory, saying Clancy intended to end her own life and did not want her children to suffer.
Sullivan took the defense’s request for a required finding of not guilty under advisement and issued no immediate ruling.
The court set no retrial date. Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz told reporters outside the courthouse that his office has not decided whether to try Clancy again.
“We’re going to do what we can for the children,” Cruz said. He added, “It’s about those children and making sure they get justice.”
The first jury deliberated for more than seven days before it split 11-1, according to jurors who later described the process.
Eleven reportedly favored finding Clancy not criminally responsible. One juror, Michael Desronvil, supported conviction.
Desronvil said through his lawyer that he harbored no doubts and did not ignore the judge’s reasonable-doubt instructions.
In a Fox News video, he steered attention to the children, calling them “the three angels.”
Clancy’s defense now wants Sullivan to examine Desronvil’s questionnaire answers, his responses in court and his alleged cellphone use during deliberations.
Another juror earlier accused him of scrolling on his phone while the panel deliberated, which Massachusetts jury rules forbid.
His new attorney, Heather O’Connor, said he carried out his duties carefully and objected to efforts to single him out.
Sullivan moved arguments on the juror inquiry, the impounded records and the defense’s double-jeopardy claim to November 2.
The defense says no “manifest necessity” justified the mistrial because Sullivan should have questioned the holdout juror further.
Prosecutors reject that position and say the deadlock permitted a mistrial, which keeps a second prosecution legally available.
Prosecutors also asked for a gag order on Reddington’s public statements before any retrial.
They cited possible harm to future jurors and said the order would prevent another “carnival atmosphere” around the heavily publicized case.
Clancy remains in a state psychiatric hospital while the murder charges and several post-mistrial motions stay unresolved.
About 40 supporters, many wearing pink, gathered outside the courthouse before the hearing began.
A first-degree murder conviction carries a possible life sentence. An acquittal by reason of insanity could lead to psychiatric confinement.
Sullivan set the next status hearing for November 2. Attorneys must arrive ready to discuss a possible retrial date.
