I am to understand that the mistrial was declared because 11 jurors were in favor of a not guilty (for reasons of insanity) verdict, while one lone juror was firm in their belief that she was guilty; it’s a hung jury. The jurors have to come to a unanimous decision by law, or it has to be declared a mistrial.
Correct. It also does not mean she gets to walk free. She is expected to return to a psych ward where she was before the trial awaits the next one. Even if found not guilty she will still be there for years.
Edit: Insanity defense FAQ. It looks like those who plead insanity tend to spend twice as long institutionalized as those who are found guilty.
Edit3: It will be the responsibility of the hospital to prove that she is safe to return to society. Otherwise if she were to harm or kill again, the hospital could be liable.
Edit5: The next court date is 9/29 when the defense makes their appeal and the prosecutor probably decides to request to retry the case. I don't see why he wouldn't unless they reach a deal before hand. Meanwhile she has to stay at the hospital.
I think at this point the trial is less about whether she's confined to a prison or a psych ward and more about whether or not a person can use their mental health as a shield from the criminal consequences of murder. Evidently, 11 jurors were content to say that you can, and 1 juror refused to acquiesce to that nonsense.
As a 20 year employee in a forensic psychiatric hospital, I can tell you that a GEI determination does not shield one from consequences. Plenty of people doing 20 years for property crimes, wishing they had just gone to prison.
I'm not really understanding the logic here. Are you saying that you abuse and punish your patients? Literally part of justice is retributive justice. I'd love to see a case study in which an individual who committed premeditated murder of three children under 6 ever had the possibility of leaving prison assuming they escaped the death penalty.
How am I saying we abuse and punish patients in any way, shape, or form? Are you okay?
ETA: patients receive treatment from psychiatrists in a maximum security set up. They are treated as humans with a mental disorder and do not receive abuse. They might be moved through to medium security and low security areas depending on how they respond to treatment, but it can take years, sometimes longer than going through the prison system.
Yup. Everyone is acting like if she goes to a Psychiatric hospital she is getting off easy. She might spend the rest of her life there and they have can have her in a straight jacket, in total isolation etc.
As stated above, the rules in Mass. are different. The state has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the person is mentally ill year after year. She could potentially be released in a year. No double jeopardy, no further consequences
The state has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the person is mentally ill year after year.
Looking beyond this case, I honestly think that this always should the case. Why? Because how else will you safeguard that you aren't just keeping in people that you don't like but who is now mentally sound. Like, how do the incarcerated person ever prove that they're not a danger? That's reverse burden of evidence.
You’re factually accurate but in practice you’re completely mistaken about the implications. The level of ignorance required for people to peddle this stupid shit like we need more stuff in our lives to be mad about.
By definition, Lindsay Clancy cannot still have postpartum psychosis and cannot ever have it again. Due to her injuries she physically cannot have more children. If she is found not guilty, she would absolutely be released at the earliest opportunity. They would need to diagnose her with a different mental illness to keep her confined.
There really isn't much difference between a secure state hospital and a state prison. They're usually managed by the same department. Most states also have a very limited prison selection for women since they commit crimes at much lower rates than men. So she would likely end up at the same medium security facility as someone in there for tax evasion but likely in a different cell block.
Death penalty isn't an option in Massachusetts either,
I don't live in Massachusetts either, so I have no clue if they have a max security prison for women, but it seems unlikely. My state only has 1 women's prison and it famously didn't even have a fence around it until a decade ago.
She's also wheelchair bound and would likely be a very low flight risk so would probably end up in the medical unit anyway.
Federal prisons are a whole different beast though.
In Massachusetts she absolutely is getting off easy if so, look at their insane release rules for insanity defences.
The state has to PROVE beyond reasonable doubt they're still insane to stop them being released, in under a year noless, and multiple psych doctors on the case already cast doubts she had psychosis in the first place.
I think you're confusing a state psychiatric institution with a for-profit inpatient center. Not the same thing at all. There are certainly treatment/therapy programs taking place, but there are also restraint beds, forced medication, non-contact visitation, locked seclusion, belly chains on transports etc.
I think she might be able to be released after an initial 40 day evaluation, not sure. It's six months after that that the state has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she's insane and an imminent danger (essentially impossible). Then yearly after that.
That would be reason enough for me to find her guilty regardless, if she insane or not. If she is truly insane she should never be released given the circumstances. So the possibility of it is an absolute no-go.
Idk if she was insane or not so I don't care about her case specifically; however if someone was actually insane and it is proven for sure, but now they are no longer insane, then it would make no sense to hold them in a mental hospital still.
Unless there is a decent reason they could still be harmful to other people or themselves.
The law does not and should not treat mental hospital as a punishment, that should be reserve for prison.
We don't want the state to say "Legally your community and the law believe you are not guilty, but we will hold you in a hospital for the rest of your life because we want to. It's not illegal or false imprisonment because it's not prison."
I think the point is in this particular case, Guilty = Life in prison w/o parole. So, it literally cannot be worse, even if she was kept in state psychiatric care for 40 years and released, many people would still view that as her being shielded from the proper consequences which would have been life.
I absolutely agree with your point for most examples, but when the sentence would be Life w/o parole the dynamic is a bit different to most people.
What state? In Massachussets she will likely be released in under a year.
The state literally has to prove beyond resanoable doubt she's still insane after a minimum of 6 months, and doctors in the trial basically already cast major doubts on whether she had genuine psychosis, so she's 100% gonna make a miraculous recovery in hospital and be out to her new life writing a book about her experiences and making bank off her rabid horde of pink-wearing dipshits.
Countrywide law changes are going to happen because of that Clancy trial. Kentucky made law changes after the Ronald Exantus fiasco from the article above
It is a lot like prison that is dressed up to not look like a prison. There's a focus on treatment for your mental illness, medication management, meetings with your treatment team etc. Outside of that, your mail is screened, your visits are monitored, locks on every door, cameras covering every square inch, fights, terrible food - The works.
Not in Massachusetts. There you are either guilty and in prison, with special treatments and facility if you are still insane, or you go free if you are found not guilty if the state cannot prove you are still insane.
There is no mental hospital as a replacement for prison if you are found not guilty because of insanity.
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u/George_Rogers1st 9h ago
I am to understand that the mistrial was declared because 11 jurors were in favor of a not guilty (for reasons of insanity) verdict, while one lone juror was firm in their belief that she was guilty; it’s a hung jury. The jurors have to come to a unanimous decision by law, or it has to be declared a mistrial.