‘Logistical nightmare’: Judge to craft order detailing how Lindsay Clancy will attend murder trial
The judge overseeing Lindsay Clancy 's criminal case said Wednesday he would move quickly to craft an order outlining a protocol for how the woman charged with the murders of her three young children should be brought to court for trial.
Clancy is accused of strangling her three children with exercise bands in January 2023, before throwing herself from a second-story window at her Duxbury home. She has been paralyzed from the sternum down ever since.
Kevin Reddington, Clancy's defense lawyer, called the case a "logistical nightmare," given his client's physical limitations and emotional distress. Clancy is on 24/7 suicide watch at Tewksbury State Hospital, where she is committed. She is also being held without bail on the murder charges.
Wednesday marked the third hearing convened to address the challenges of bringing Clancy to the Plymouth courthouse, where her trial will take place in July. Clancy appeared via Zoom for the hearing, as she has each time her case has been in court.
After the first, Reddington filed a motion seeking records from the Plymouth County sheriff's office , which he has criticized.
On Wednesday, a lawyer for the sheriff's office told Judge William Sullivan that Clancy could be transported in her wheelchair in a van. Tewksbury is not able to bring Clancy to and from the courthouse, said the lawyer, Jessica Kenny.
Transporting Clancy in an ambulance would be difficult, Kenny explained.
Reddington, though, described Kenny's presentation as "radio gaga."
"It's incredible medical care that is necessary for the duration of the trial and periodically during the day," he said, adding that he took issue with the representation that Clancy was able to self-transfer between her wheelchair and other surfaces.
"She has to have a nurse that's not a veterinarian, that knows what the medical condition of the individual is and can provide help, not just some random person from the sheriff's department that's going to sit in a jump seat in the sheriff's van," Reddington said.
He suggested there was a "very real possibility" Clancy could take her own life during the trial if not properly supervised.
Jennifer Sprague, a prosecutor with the Plymouth County District Attorney's office, argued there was no need for a further hearing on the issue, as Reddington suggested.
"This woman is a prisoner held without bail on these charges," she said. "I think it would be good for everyone to just take a breath, and make a plan and follow the plan."
Both sides agreed that Sullivan should lean on a Jan. 2 letter from a physician's assistant who has worked with Clancy at the Tewksbury facility.
Sullivan said his order would be largely based on that letter, but wouldn't be finalized until both the defense and prosecution, as well as the sheriff's office, signed off on its contents.
"That's really the only information that I have from one of her care providers," he said. "It sets out the condition as well as limitations that I have to take into consideration."
Speaking to reporters following the hearing, Reddington praised the judge.
"He's very thorough. He's going to be fair," Reddington said. Still, he bristled at the notion that a nurse from the sheriff's office might accompany Clancy to court.
"I wouldn't want that. I prefer to have a competent nurse," he said.
Clancy's physical limitations could make it challenging for her to sit through full days of what is expected to be a weeks-long trial, Reddington said. However, there appeared to be little that could be done to address those concerns — Sullivan indicated he intended to hold full trial days throughout the process.
During the hearing, Sprague said the prosecution's experts were prepared to begin their own evaluation of Clancy after receiving medical records from Tewksbury. The entire process would take months, she estimated.
Reddington has indicated that he will pursue a lack of criminal responsibility defense for Clancy — essentially arguing that she could not understand the consequences of her actions because of her mental state at the time. Since the beginning of the case, Reddington has claimed Clancy was suffering from postpartum depression and psychosis and was overmedicated at the time of her children's deaths.
Any time a defendant pursues such a defense based on statements they have made, prosecutors have the right to conduct their own evaluation, Reddington explained, adding he always has such evaluations videotaped.
Still, he speculated that Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz would push forward with the case regardless of the expert's conclusion.
"If their doctors or doctor, against all odds, says 'yeah, she's lacking in criminal responsibility,' I do not see Tim Cruz dropping the case," Reddington said.
Cruz's office has portrayed Clancy as a calculated, cold-blooded killer who concocted a plan to carry out the killings.
Clancy's case is scheduled to go to trial in July. A further hearing to finalize the logistical issues is scheduled for Jan. 27.
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