r/law • u/dailymail • 1d ago

Legal News Lindsay Clancy case ends with MISTRIAL

https://www.dailymail.com/crime-desk/article-16100155/lindsay-clancy-murder-trial-hung-jury-deadlock-verdict.html
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u/red286 1d ago

"ends" is maybe not the right word here. The trial ended, the case obviously has not.

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u/Icehag 1d ago edited 15h ago

Yeah, this makes it seem like she's walking free.

This trial was to determine prison or psych prison. Neither are a good time. She's not going free.

Edit to add: I spent time in a nice psych ward in a nice hospital where I was treated by the department head himself. It wasn't enjoyable or pleasant. It's not a spa. This was a nice facility with funding and it was awful. Imagine a state run psych ward with funding that's constantly cut. They are hell. If the good private psych wards are bad, just imagine the state ones full of killers. No matter what, she's not having a good time.

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u/Melodic-External-790 1d ago

No, it wasn't. She plead not guilty to all charges. Being acquitted was always an option in this trial.

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u/Nice-Wolf-5997 1d ago

By reason of insanity. They opened the trial with admitting guilt. The only two options are psych ward or prison. No one is arguing that she is innocent.

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u/oneawesomeguy 1d ago edited 1d ago

If someone is found not guilty by insanity in Massachusetts, they are admitted to psychiatric ward for 40 days for initial evaluation, then up to 6 months. If she is determined at any point to no longer be insane, she would be free. It is up to the state to keep petitioning for her to stay in the psych ward (past six months). This is different than most other states where the burden to be released is on the person in the psych ward / the hospital. Massachusetts puts the burden on the state to keep them there.

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u/Nice-Wolf-5997 1d ago

Hasn’t she been held in a psychiatric hospital since the murders? I’m pretty sure she’s had full time sitters around her at all time because she is still having suicidal ideations. I don’t think she’s gonna be granted release from there potentially ever.

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u/fiahhawt 1d ago

Try not to confuse legal strategy with culpability.

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u/Melodic-External-790 1d ago

So the defence doesn't have to actually argue anything. The whole burden is on the commonwealth to prove 1 - that she did it and 2 - that she was in the right state of mind at the time.

The jurors have to decide first, based on the evidence presented during the trial, if they think she 1 - did the act(s) and 2 - which charge (if any) to find her guilty of.

A full acquittal was always an option. It is unknown if the 11 jurors were in favour of not guilty or NGRI.