Clancy trial ends in deadlock

Ankur Desai (0:00)

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Ankur Desai, and in the early hours of Saturday, the 5th of September, these are our main stories. A mistrial has been declared in the high-profile murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, the mother charged with murdering her three small children. A Russian drone has struck the headquarters of Ukraine's security service in Kyiv, ahead of the expected arrival of US mediators in the city. And the UN General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution calling for a new world map that more accurately reflects the size of Africa.

Also in this podcast, the latest rogue AI attack that even went as far as transforming the targeted websites.

SPEAKER_2 (0:45)

And Our president, Giorgia Meloni.

Ankur Desai (0:50)

We find out how Giorgia Meloni has managed to lead the longest serving administration in post-war Italy.

It's a case that's gripped not only the United States, but also because of social media, the world, the trial of Lindsay Clancy. After a week of deliberation, jurors have failed to reach unanimous verdict on the American mother accused of murdering her three children. The judge in Massachusetts, William Sullivan, declared a mistrial and thanked the jury for their hard work and effort.

William Sullivan (1:23)

I watched every day, day after day, week after week, all of you performing that duty that you're braced for. And I just kind of wanted to let you know, I understood how hard everybody worked in this case. I understood that you all gave everything you could and probably more than you thought you could.

Ankur Desai (1:43)

Lindsay Clancy pleaded not guilty to murder, but has never denied killing her children, aged between eight months and five years. Her lawyer, Kevin Reddington, entered a defense of insanity, saying she was suffering from postpartum or postnatal psychosis at the time and could not distinguish right from wrong.

Kevin Reddington (2:03)

If anything, this case showed clearly and unequivocally the woeful deficiency that women have when they're pregnant, when they have babies, and God forbid when they're on medication because of postpartum depression, postpartum psychosis. It's just horrible what we saw in this trial, and maybe things have to change.

Ankur Desai (2:27)

Patrick Clancy told the court that Lindsay, his ex-wife, was a very dedicated mother who struggled with her mental health. After the verdict, he issued a statement thanking the court endures, adding that the prospect of a retrial would be extremely painful for his family.

A correspondent, Anna Fagy, who's been covering the story from the start, told me about the reaction to the verdict.

Anna Fagy (2:48)

There was a lot of shock that this was finally over because we'd been waiting for a while, and each day this week while I was in court, we thought today was the day, and then we came back the next day, right? And then yesterday, of course, we had this big moment where we found out that there was one holdout juror. And so we finally got some inclination as to which way they were headed. And then to come back today and get a final answer that there was a mistrial, I think people were just shocked at after seven days where we ended up.

Ankur Desai (3:15)

Lindsay Clancy's husband says a retrial would be extraordinarily painful for his family. So bearing that in mind, has the prosecution given any indication of their intentions and their steps forward?

Anna Fagy (3:26)

Earlier this week, as the DA was walking through the hallway, reporters posed this question to him. And he basically said, should that be the outcome? We're going to retry this. Now, he said that to us before the Thursday note from the jury that indicated that there was a deadlock happening. So whether or not that's still his stance remains to be seen. But he did come out to the microphones on Friday after all of this happened and said to reporters, we're still mauling over what to do.

They could bring the case again as first degree murder charges, which is a premeditated intentional killing of someone. And of course, she was charged with three counts for all three children. Or they could bring a lesser charge. If they brought a lesser charge, which some have indicated they might have better success should they do that, they wouldn't necessarily have to have a jury-led trial. It could be a judge-led trial, which may lead to a quicker or more resolute resolution here.

Ankur Desai (4:19)

And what happens to Lindsay Clancy now?

Anna Fagy (4:21)

She's in a psychiatric facility.

She's been held there since all of this happened, and she'll remain there until we figure out what's going to happen next. If she's tried and found guilty, she could go to prison. If she's found not guilty, she could stay in that same mental institution that she's in now.