Judge to decide later this month on Lindsay Clancy's potential retrial

Lindsay Clancy, a Massachusetts woman accused of killing her three children in 2023, returned to court Monday for a hearing focused on whether she will face a retrial on three murder counts, NBC News reported.

Her initial trial ended in September with a deadlocked jury, forcing the judge to declare a mistrial. The defense filed a motion to dismiss the charges on double jeopardy grounds, arguing Clancy cannot be prosecuted twice for the same crime, according to PBS NewsHour.

During the hearing, defense attorney Martin Weinberg contended that the prosecution must prove a manifest necessity to justify the mistrial and retrial. He also argued that further questioning of the lone holdout juror could have revealed personal reasons behind the deadlock, potentially avoiding the mistrial, NBC News added.

The proceedings became tense as the defense accused the holdout juror of researching case terms on a cellphone and questioned his truthfulness during jury selection, leading the judge to intervene multiple times, PBS NewsHour reported.

The judge did not rule on the motions Monday but scheduled a status hearing for November 16 to make a decision, NBC News said.

Clancy has never disputed killing her children but her defense maintains she suffered from postpartum psychosis and was unable to control her actions. Prosecutors acknowledge her mental health issues but contend she acted deliberately and understood her actions were wrong, according to PBS NewsHour.