Lindsay Clancy’s defense attorney Kevin Reddington stunned a Massachusetts courtroom by arguing murder charges against the former nurse should be dismissed entirely.
Clancy, 36, appeared Tuesday in Plymouth for her first hearing since a hung jury forced a mistrial earlier this month in the killings of her three young children. Judge William Sullivan slammed his fist on the bench as he worked to push the case forward, scheduling a follow-up hearing for Nov. 2 at 9 a.m. And demanding both sides be ready to set a retrial date then.
Reddington claimed for the first time that there is a “total and complete lack of evidence” that Clancy killed Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months old. The assertion marked a sharp turn from the grueling two-month trial, during which Clancy formally agreed to a set of facts including that she did fatally strangle the children.
The judge made clear his frustration with delays. “I’m trying my best to move this thing along,” Sullivan said, adding that his “goal is to get this tried as soon as possible… not to get it kicked down the road.”
Reddington drew rare laughter from the courtroom with his response. “I’m not kicking anything,” the attorney joked, after earlier quipping “Believe it or not I do” when Sullivan asked if he agreed motions needed to be argued first.
If prosecutors do pursue a second trial, Reddington told the court that June 2027 is the soonest he would be available to defend Clancy. Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz has not yet revealed whether he plans to refile murder charges against her.
After the hearing, Reddington was swarmed by press outside the courthouse. He paused briefly by his car to address backlash against Michael P. Desronvil, the lone juror whose refusal to convict forced the mistrial.
“It’s not my fault that the jury deals with this guy, from Houston, who is not a serious person, who ends up making statements repeatedly, continuously, just fanning the flames, to hear himself talk, and keeps talking about the jury as he’s looking at $400,000, apparently, from his GoFundMe, going on ‘Hannity’ making statements — please,” Reddington told reporters.
Prosecutors filed a motion Monday seeking a gag order on Reddington, and the attorney was careful not to name Desronvil directly. “I am not attacking anyone,” he said.
Clancy herself showed a brief flash of warmth during the proceedings, cracking a closed-mouth smile at Reddington after Sullivan postponed ruling on her bid to have murder charges dropped.
The former labor and delivery nurse also faces a civil lawsuit against the doctors and hospitals that treated her for postpartum complications before the killings. Attorneys for that case spoke to reporters after Tuesday’s criminal hearing concluded.
Clancy’s trial stretched across nearly two months this summer before collapsing when jurors could not reach consensus. The panel’s 11 other members have since spoken out about their frustration with Desronvil, who has given media interviews and launched a GoFundMe campaign that Reddington said has raised approximately $400,000.
Clancy is due back in court on Nov. 2 in Plymouth.