Lindsay Clancy back in court after mistrial as prosecutors seek gag order
Her triple-murder trial ended in an 11-1 deadlock this month. Now her lawyers want the case dismissed. Prosecutors want her lawyer to stop talking.
Lindsay Clancy was back in a Plymouth courtroom on Tuesday morning, her first appearance since her triple-murder trial ended in a mistrial this month.
The status and trial assignment hearing put the next steps on the table. Her defense team wants Judge William Sullivan to dismiss the charges. Prosecutors have still not said whether they will try her again.
Clancy, 36, is accused of killing her three children — Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and 8-month-old Callan — in the family’s Duxbury home on Jan. 24, 2023. Prosecutors say she sent her husband out on errands and strangled the children with exercise bands. She does not deny killing them.
Her lawyer, Kevin Reddington, argued at trial that postpartum psychosis left her unable to understand what she was doing. Prosecutors said she knew exactly what she was doing.
The first trial ran from July 21 to Sept. 4. The jury deliberated for more than 38 hours across seven days and never reached a unanimous verdict. Court filings show the split was 11-1, with 11 jurors prepared to find her not guilty by reason of insanity. Sullivan declared a mistrial.
On Monday, prosecutors asked Sullivan to place a gag order on Reddington. In court papers they said the order was needed “to prevent the carnival atmosphere that was the trial between July 21, 2026, and September 4, 2026, as well as the aftermath since.” They called his public comments about the jury “the most disturbing” part.
Reddington had publicly said the holdout juror was a man — with only three men on the panel — and claimed the juror “robbed the defendant of an acquittal.” The juror, Michael Desronvil, has denied claims from other jurors that he refused to follow the law.
Reddington is also asking the court to investigate Desronvil: his questionnaire answers, his conduct during deliberations, and whether he followed the court’s rules on cellphone use.
Clancy spoke in court for the first time since the mistrial. When Sullivan greeted her at the start of the hearing, she answered, “Good morning.” Her parents were in the courtroom. Supporters wearing shirts with her photo gathered outside the courthouse.
What happens next is still open. District Attorney Timothy Cruz said on Sept. 4 that no retrial decision would come that day. His options include a retrial on first-degree murder, which carries a life sentence, a lesser charge, or a plea deal. Sullivan has said he would like any retrial to happen later this year.
