Judge denies Lindsay Clancy's pretrial motion to call witnesses who have experienced postpartum psychosis

A judge has denied Lindsay Clancy's motion to call witnesses to the stand in her criminal trial who have personal experience with postpartum psychosis. 

A final pretrial hearing was held Monday, one week before jury selection is set to begin in the Duxbury, Massachusetts mother's high-profile murder trial.

Clancy is facing three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of her three children in 2023. Prosecutors allege that Clancy premeditated their murders by sending her husband out for takeout food before strangling the children and attempting to take her own life. 

Clancy's defense attorney, Kevin Reddington said, "it's important for people to realize she was a great mother."

Reddington said his client takes responsibility for what happened, but plans to argue at trial that she was overcome by an episode of postpartum psychosis.

"She was a mother who every night would sing Rascal Flatts song to her daughter to put her to sleep," Reddington said. "They would dance on the kid's bed. This is a woman that was an incredible, incredible mother."  

Clancy has been held in a mental facility since the incident. Reddington described Clancy's mental health issues as "a toxic soup."

In the court filing, Reddington, told the court that he has been contacted by 15 different people who allege to have personal experience with postpartum psychosis, hallucinations, or SSRI use, who are willing to testify at trial.

These people have no believed connection to this case, but have "been victimized by the medical system that fails to recognize the severe, debilitating and devastating impact of postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis," according to the filing.

"Clancy requests permission to present testimonial evidence from witnesses who have themselves suffered from PPD and PPP including the suicidal ideation, infanticide ideation, homicidal ideation with auditory and visual hallucinations," the court motion requests.

Judge William Sullivan sided with prosecutors, who said allowing women to testify who have no connection to this tragic case and are not experts, would be prejudicial, and require prosecutors to call even more witnesses.  

"Women who suffered from postpartum depression and psychosis who did not kill their children, who locked themselves in a room, to keep themselves from harming their children, who got in a car and drove away, so they didn't harm their children," prosecutor Jennifer Sprague said. "And so, then it becomes a trial within a trial."

Jurors will be asked about their own mental health history as they are screened for this trial.