Jurors were visibly moved Thursday by the Lindsay Clancy trial's emotional closing arguments, with the defense and prosecution offering sharply different accounts of the Massachusetts mother’s state of mind when she killed her three children. Defense attorney Kevin Reddington urged jurors to see Clancy as a desperately ill mother whose mind had deteriorated under the effects of postpartum psychosis, bipolar disorder and what he described as inadequate medical treatment. Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague acknowledged that Clancy was suffering from mental illness — but argued that illness did not prevent her from knowing that killing her children was wrong or from controlling her actions.
At points, the courtroom became visibly emotional. At least two jurors were seen weeping during Reddington's 52-minute closing argument. During Sprague's closing, a female juror was seen repeatedly wiping her eyes as the prosecutor described the children's final moments.
Clancy herself also cried during the prosecution's description of what her children may have experienced. The competing closings marked the final arguments before the jury began deliberating over whether Clancy was criminally responsible for the deaths. The jury ultimately began deliberating shortly after 12:30 p.m.
After several hours, the jurors were sent home without a verdict and are scheduled to resume deliberations Friday morning. Reddington opened the defense's final argument by attacking the picture prosecutors had painted of his client. He argued that Clancy had repeatedly sought psychiatric help before the killings and that the treatment she received failed her at a critical moment.
He later delivered one of his most emotional appeals: “My God, what does she have to do? She was reaching out for help and she was not getting it.” That argument appeared to hit the jury emotionally. At least two jurors were seen crying during Reddington's closing, while other jurors also appeared visibly moved.
Reddington repeatedly returned to the idea that Clancy's behavior could not be understood without considering what he described as a catastrophic psychiatric deterioration. He called her a “damn good mother” and said the prosecution had “ripped the soul out of this girl.” One of the strangest and most theatrical moments came when Reddington physically used quarters to make his argument. He dropped coins onto the prosecution's table as he went through evidence he believed prosecutors had taken out of context or used unfairly to make Clancy appear guilty.
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