Lindsay Clancy Mistrial: Why the Jury Couldn't Decide | OPEN TABS

Since recording this episode, the judge has declared a mistrial after the jury failed to reach a unanimous decision. Lindsay Clancy was neither convicted nor acquitted, and prosecutors must now decide whether to try the case again. After everything you’ve just heard, perhaps the most striking outcome is that the twelve people who heard all of the evidence could not agree on the answer either.There is no mystery about who killed five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan Clancy. Their mother, Lindsay Clancy, acknowledged that she caused their deaths inside the family’s Massachusetts home on January 24, 2023.The question at the center of Lindsay’s murder trial was whether she was criminally responsible when she did it.Prosecutors argued that Lindsay planned the killings, deliberately created an opportunity to be alone with the children and understood that her actions were wrong. Her defense argued that she was experiencing postpartum psychosis, had lost touch with reality and lacked the capacity to control her behavior.In this Open Tabs bonus episode, Madison examines Lindsay’s treatment and medication timeline, the evidence presented by both sides, the conflicting psychiatric testimony and what Massachusetts law actually required the jury to decide. Because mental illness does not automatically eliminate criminal responsibility—but planning does not necessarily prove it either.CONTENT WARNING: This episode discusses the deaths of children, suicide, self-harm and severe postpartum mental illness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices