Judge Won't End Case Against Lindsay Clancy

A Massachusetts judge on Thursday rejected a request by Lindsay Clancy's lawyer to issue a verdict of not guilty, finding prosecutors had presented enough evidence for jurors to weigh her responsibility in the 2023 deaths of her three children. Judge William Sullivan wrote that both physical and circumstantial evidence could allow "a rational trier of fact" to find the elements of murder proven beyond a reasonable doubt, the Guardian reports. The prosecution of Clancy on murder charges resulted in a hung jury last month; Thursday's decision allows for a retrial.

Prosecutors have not said whether they plan to put the case in front of a jury for a second time, per the AP. They could choose to retry her on first-degree murder charges or seek to try her only on lesser charges, including second-degree murder or manslaughter, or drop the case entirely. Clancy's attorney did not contest during the Massachusetts trial that she killed the children, instead arguing she was legally not responsible due to postpartum psychosis. Prosecutors have acknowledged her history of serious mental health treatment but maintain she understood her actions when she strangled the children and then attempted suicide.