Judge denies motion to dismiss Lindsay Clancy's murder case

A Massachusetts judge has denied a motion to dismiss the murder case against Lindsay Clancy, the US woman accused of murdering her three children. The judge's ruling comes after Clancy's defence team requested dismissal of the case after her trial ended in a mistrial in September, when a 12-person jury failed to reach consensus. The ruling clears the way for prosecutors to pursue the case.

They could reduce the charges in a potential second trial or dismiss them altogether. Clancy has not denied killing her children in 2023, but her defence team argues she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis at the time. Prosecutors say the killings were intentional.

Clancy's defence team argued to dismiss the case against her due to double jeopardy - a legal standard that prevents a person from being tried for the same crime twice. Her lawyers argued that Judge William Sullivan, who presided over the 26-day jury trial last summer, acted prematurely when he declared a mistrial on 4 September, saying that he should have sought a viable alternative.