{"id":25339,"date":"2026-08-28T17:13:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T17:13:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=25339"},"modified":"2026-08-28T17:13:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T17:13:37","slug":"lindsay-clancy-could-be-free-in-just-years-if-insanity-defense-wins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=25339","title":{"rendered":"Lindsay Clancy could be free in just years if insanity defense wins"},"content":{"rendered":"


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NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

If jurors find Lindsay Clancy not criminally responsible for strangling her three children, her civil commitment to a mental institution could come up for review every year \u2014 making it difficult to predict how long she could remain hospitalized, according to a retired judge.<\/p>\n

Clancy would not face “a ‘life sentence in a public mental hospital,'” Carol Erskine, a retired Massachusetts judge and child welfare advocate, wrote in a post on X. “She could remain hospitalized for many years \u2014 even indefinitely \u2014 but only as long as the legal criteria for civil commitment continue to be met.”<\/p>\n

The first move is in the trial judge’s hands, Erskine later told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n

LINDSAY CLANCY DIDN’T SHOW ‘BREAK WITH REALITY’ AS JURY WEIGHS PSYCHOSIS DEFENSE: SUSAN SMITH PROSECUTOR<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Lindsay Clancy, charged with the murder of her three children in Duxbury in 2023, appears in Plymouth Superior Court on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026.<\/span> (Greg Derr\/The Patriot Ledger \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“The initial aspect of what happens is an order by the judge,” she said. “If the judge so orders it, a 40-day evaluation in a locked unit.”<\/p>\n

After that, there would be an evaluation and hearing on whether she should be committed for further.<\/p>\n

“If the recommendation is for a civil commitment because there’s likelihood of serious harm under the statute, then there would be a commitment for a period of six months,” she said. “And that would, again, be in a locked unit.”<\/p>\n

LINDSAY CLANCY DEFENSE SCORES \u2018EXTREMELY HELPFUL\u2019 PSYCHOSIS CONCESSION AS EXPERT FLAGS NEXT HURDLE<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Callan, left, Dawson and Cora Clancy. The three children were killed at their Duxbury, Massachusetts, home in January 2023.<\/span> (Lindsay Marie Clancy\/Facebook)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X<\/strong><\/p>\n

Beyond that, Clancy would be up for review every year to determine whether there is still a likelihood of serious harm and if she should still be committed to a mental institution, she said.<\/p>\n

SIGN UP TO GET THE LATEST TRUE CRIME NEWS<\/strong><\/p>\n

“It\u2019s really impossible to say how long she would be committed if she\u2019s committed because it all depends on if she is initially committed [and] these yearly evaluations,” Erskine said.<\/p>\n

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Patrick Clancy took the stand as the first witness in the trial. Patrick and Lindsay Clancy were married at the time their three children were killed but have since divorced.<\/span> (Pool)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE<\/strong><\/p>\n

After the evaluation, the facility’s superintendent could recommend discharge. If there is a petition to discharge, the district attorney’s office and Clancy’s defense attorney can be heard in court.<\/p>\n

PROSECUTOR IN INFAMOUS KILLER MOM CASE SAYS WOMEN ON LINDSAY CLANCY JURY MAY BRING \u2018STRANGE TWIST\u2019 TO VERDICT<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Lindsay Clancy reacts as doctors testify about efforts to save her children Friday, July 31, 2026.<\/span> (Josh Reynolds for Daily Mail \/Pool)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

That’s just one potential outcome as jurors, who began deliberating Thursday, weigh Clancy’s fate.<\/p>\n

GOT A TIP?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clancy is charged with three counts of murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, who was 8 months old. Jurors could find her guilty of first- or second-degree murder, manslaughter, or not criminally responsible via the insanity defense.<\/p>\n

LISTEN TO THE NEW ‘CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO’ PODCAST<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Exterior view of the home of Patrick and Lindsay Clancy in Duxbury, MA on Wednesday, February 15, 2023.\u00a0<\/span> (David McGlynn for Fox News Digital)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

LINDSAY CLANCY DESCRIBED A MALE VOICE ORDERING HER TO \u2018KILL HER CHILDREN AND KILL HERSELF\u2019: TESTIMONY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Investigators have said that after strangling them with exercise bands, she attempted to kill herself by cutting herself and jumping out a second-floor window. The resulting injuries have left her paralyzed.<\/p>\n

LINDSAY CLANCY’S FAMILY WAS ‘VERY CONCERNED’ ABOUT HER MENTAL HEALTH IN THE MONTHS BEFORE SHE KILLED HER KIDS<\/strong><\/p>\n

But her limited mobility is likely not going to be a factor when she is evaluated for her potential for harm in the future, Erskine said.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t think it would play a huge role in how they evaluate whether she has a mental illness that creates a likelihood of serious harm because we\u2019re talking about serious harm to herself as well,” she explained.<\/p>\n

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