Judge denies Lindsay Clancy’s motion for bifurcated trial

A Superior Court judge has denied Lindsay Clancy‘s request to have a two-phase trial because it would be less efficient and more confusing for a jury. Her attorney has filed a motion for reconsideration.

The 35-year-old Duxbury woman is set to face a jury in July over charges that she strangled her three young children to death in 2023.

In February, her attorney, Kevin Reddington, sought to bifurcate her trial. The first phase would require the commonwealth to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she is guilty of the charges. The second would require it to prove that Clancy was not “suffering from a mental disease or defect” to the point where she was “unable to appreciate the criminality of her conduct or conform her conduct to the requirements of the law.”

In Judge William F. Sullivan‘s order issued on March 30, he wrote that Clancy did not make a strong enough case for a bifurcated trial.

“There is no suggestion that any defense other than the lack of criminal responsibility will be presented to the jury,” he wrote. “There is little concern that the evidence presented will be misleading or overly prejudicial on the issues of the defendant’s guilt or criminal responsibility.”

He reiterated that deciding whether a trial is bifurcated is within his discretion and is usually considered “when separate trials will be conducive to expedition and economy.”

Further, many issues and experts would likely overlap with lengthy testimony if there were two phases, thereby making a bifurcated trial “not further the interests of judicial economy.”

Reddington filed a motion to reconsider the denial on April 2.

Reporting by Hannah Morse, The Patriot Ledger / The Patriot Ledger

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