Newz(AP) — Prosecutors have finished presenting their case in the emotionally charged trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mom who has admitted killing her three young children but blamed her actions on her failing mental health. The prosecution rested its case Monday after three weeks of testimony. Clancy’s lawyer now gets his chance to call witnesses.
Prosecutors argue Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, was an intentional killer who contrived to get her husband out of the house by sending him to get takeout and to the pharmacy on Jan. Then, she strangled the children before attempting to kill herself. Clancy’s attorney Kevin Reddington does not dispute that she killed the children.
But he says the jury should not hold her criminally responsible because she had postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness linked to the stress, sleep deprivation and hormonal changes that follow childbirth. He said she also had bipolar disorder and that antidepressants prescribed after the birth of her third child worsened her condition. ___ EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide.
If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. ___ The jury has heard so far from witnesses who demonstrated that Clancy had sought treatment for severe mental health problems, including admitting herself to a psychiatric hospital.
But witnesses also noted Clancy wouldn’t always take the medications prescribed to help with her insomnia, anxiety and depression, and expressed fears she was addicted to some of them. The defense, on cross examination, argued that Clancy was overmedicated and demonstrated that her care was disjointed, with doctors not speaking to one another, conducting appointments with her over Zoom and not sharing their notes. Despite her efforts to seek treatment, the defense also showed she was discharged from one facility after a day and denied a higher level of care at another when she couldn’t show that she had a suicide plan.
Prosecutors also questioned the seriousness of Clancy’s suicide attempt and showed through texts and photos that she performed many normal activities the day of the killings, including taking her children to the doctor and playing with them in the snow. Her doctors also testified they never saw Clancy exhibit signs of ma… Clancy’s lawyer now gets his chance to call witnesses.Prosecutors argue Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, was an intentional killer who contrived to get her husband out of the house by sending him to get takeout and to the pharmacy on Jan.
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