Judge rejects bid to dismiss murder case against Lindsay Clancy

A Massachusetts judge has rejected a request to dismiss the murder case against Lindsay Clancy, the US woman accused of killing her three children in 2023.

The decision follows an application from Clancy's defence team to have the case thrown out after a 12-person jury failed to reach a verdict during her trial in September.

Clancy has not disputed that she killed her children, but her lawyers maintain she was experiencing severe postpartum psychosis at the time. Prosecutors argue the killings were deliberate.

With the motion denied, prosecutors are now free to continue pursuing the case. They retain the option of lowering the charges ahead of a possible second trial, or dropping the case entirely.

Clancy's defence had sought dismissal on the grounds of double jeopardy, a legal principle preventing someone from facing trial twice for the same offence.

Her legal team contended that Judge William Sullivan, who oversaw the 26-day jury trial last summer, moved too quickly in declaring a mistrial on 4 September, and should instead have explored other options before doing so.

The five-week trial, along with the events leading up to it and its aftermath, drew widespread attention across the United States and brought increased focus to postpartum mental health conditions, including psychosis.