Clancy Lawyer After Mistrial Decision: She's 'Not Good'

Prosecutors in Plymouth County now face a major call in one of Massachusetts' most closely watched murder cases. District Attorney Timothy Cruz says he hasn't yet decided whether to retry Lindsay Clancy, after jurors deadlocked Friday on first-degree murder charges in the deaths of her three young children and the judge declared a mistrial, reports the New York Times. Clancy pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, with her lawyers citing postpartum psychosis. Cruz has pushed back on framing the case around mental health, saying it's "about getting justice for those three little babies."

Cruz's handling of the case fits a long-running pattern, critics and supporters say. In office since 2001, he's known for pursuing the toughest charges, with one defense attorney saying his office "reflexively" does so. Cruz, a Republican seeking another term unopposed, recently saw a separate child-killing conviction overturned for retrial over excluded mental-health evidence. "Our priority has always been to fight for Cora, for Dawson, and for Callan," he said Friday after the mistrial announcement, naming Clancy's three deceased children.

Clancy's lawyer, Kevin Reddington, meanwhile, had a lot to say about both Cruz and Clancy after Friday's proceedings came to a close, per Court TV. "You don't stand here at a bunch of microphones and crow about your victory. Because you, Tim, were crushed, as you well should have been," Reddington said of Cruz. As for how his client and her parents are doing, Reddington noted, "Not good. ... They know that they were robbed by one man, for whatever his agenda was, who stole seven weeks of the lives of these other jurors who were so attentive."

In a statement after the mistrial was declared, Clancy's ex-husband, Patrick Clancy, thanked the jurors for their hard work and hinted that a retrial isn't what he desires. "The loss of Patrick's children is something from which he will never recover and from which there will never be closure," the statement said. "The prospect of reliving this tragedy through another trial is extraordinarily painful." An analyst who spoke to Reuters says a retrial is likely.