Why Lindsay Clancy uses a wheelchair as jury pause hits trial
Why Lindsay Clancy wheelchair use continues in court is clear from reporting on her case: she remains paralyzed from the waist down after cutting herself and jumping from a second-story window in a failed suicide attempt after killing her three children in January 2023. Jurors were sent home Wednesday for an unforeseen reason.
Key Takeaways
- Judge William Sullivan sent jurors home Wednesday citing an "unforeseen circumstance," with testimony set to resume Thursday morning.
- Clancy uses a wheelchair because she is paralyzed from the waist down after a post-killings suicide attempt that included a jump from a second-story window.
- Defense psychologist Paul Zeizel told jurors he believes she suffered postpartum psychosis and was not criminally responsible.
- Clancy faces three first-degree murder counts in the Jan. 24, 2023, deaths of Cora, Dawson, and Callan in Duxbury, Massachusetts.
What happened in court on Wednesday?
Jurors in Lindsay Clancy's murder trial were excused for the rest of Wednesday afternoon after Judge William Sullivan described an "unforeseen circumstance." He did not say what caused the delay.
"This is not something we saw coming, but you're not to speculate about what it is," Sullivan told jurors, according to ABC News. "You're not to hold it against either side. It's just something that we have to deal with."
Testimony was scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. Thursday. Local coverage from WJAR confirmed the trial was continuing after the early day for jurors.
Why is Lindsay Clancy in a wheelchair?
Readers searching why Lindsay Clancy wheelchair appearances are so visible should know the injury is tied to the aftermath of the killings, not a separate courtroom incident. The Boston Globe reported that Clancy cut herself and jumped from a second-story window in a failed attempt to end her life after killing her children, and she remains paralyzed from the waist down.
She has been held without bail at Tewksbury Hospital, where she continues to receive treatment. That mobility impairment is why she appears in a wheelchair throughout proceedings at Plymouth Superior Court.
What did the psychologist tell jurors before the pause?
Earlier Wednesday, clinical and forensic psychologist Paul Zeizel returned to the stand. Defense attorney Kevin Reddington has argued that an episode of postpartum psychosis led Clancy to kill her children. Zeizel, who has met with Clancy about 60 times over three years, testified she was suffering from bipolar disorder with postpartum psychosis.
He said that by Jan. 24, 2023, she could no longer determine right from wrong. "She was unable to conform her behaviors to the rule of law, and she had no appreciation for the wrongfulness of her act," Zeizel testified, per ABC News.
Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and infant Callan. Defense lawyers do not contest that she caused the deaths; they argue she should not be held criminally responsible.
Zeizel also told jurors Clancy still speaks about her children, saying she "really loves them and misses them and thinks of them every single day." For more cases in this beat, see our True Crime & Unsolved Mysteries coverage.
Prosecutors contend she acted intentionally. If jurors acquit her, she would not go free but would be sent to a state psychiatric hospital for periodic reviews, the Globe reported.