Lindsay Clancy, who is facing a potential retrial for the alleged murders of her three children, has enlisted Martin Weinberg, an attorney who previously represented Karen Read, in an effort to have her case dismissed.
Weinberg, a veteran Boston defense attorney, has filed a motion arguing that Clancy's case should be thrown out on the grounds of double jeopardy and other related matters. The filing was made in Plymouth Superior Court.
Clancy is accused of murdering her children, Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months, at her Duxbury, Massachusetts, home in January 2023. She admitted to strangling them but has argued that she was suffering from postpartum depression and psychosis due to prescribed medications.
Clancy's first trial ended in a mistrial after a jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Eleven of the 12 jurors found sufficient evidence for an acquittal by reason of insanity, but one juror's holdout prevented a unanimous decision. The judge declared a mistrial when the jury could not agree.
Double jeopardy is a Fifth Amendment protection that prevents an individual from being tried for the same crime twice after an acquittal or conviction. It is unclear if this argument will succeed in Clancy's case, as her first trial did not result in a verdict.
Martin Weinberg represented Karen Read, who was accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O'Keefe, in January 2022. Read's first trial also ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury. Weinberg argued against a retrial for Read on double jeopardy grounds, but the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled against him, allowing the prosecution to proceed. Read was later acquitted in her second trial.
Weinberg has also represented high-profile clients, including Jeffrey Epstein.
A hearing is scheduled for September 29 to determine the next steps in Clancy's case. Prosecutors have several options, including pursuing a retrial on reduced charges, which could result in a judge making the verdict instead of a jury. The prosecution has maintained that Clancy's actions were cold-blooded murder.