PLYMOUTH, Mass. (Court TV) — Lindsay Clancy‘s defense attorney asked the judge to declare a mistrial in her case after a second reference to “mortal sin” during the murder trial.
Clancy, 36, is charged with murder in the deaths of her three children — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8. The defendant has admitted to strangling the young victims with exercise bands in their family’s home, but has argued that she is not criminally responsible because she was in the throes of postpartum psychosis at the time.
Lindsay Clancy appears in court. (Gregory Derr, The Patriot Ledger/POOL)
Prosecutors presenting their rebuttal case called Dr. Kirk Heilbrun to testify on Monday; the psychologist evaluated the defendant, but did not believe she was insane when she killed her children. During testimony about his conversations with Clancy, Heilbrun said, “One of the things that she said about what happened is that in the course of strangling each child, she said, ‘Go to God, baby. Go to God.’ And that was part of her expectation that she and the children would be together in Heaven with God. She was raised as a Catholic, and this, as I understand, Catholic considerations, that’s not necessarily what happens, but when I asked her about that, when I said, ‘Isn’t suicide a mortal sin —.'” At that point, Clancy’s defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, cut Heilbrun off with an objection.
After the jury had left the room, Reddington asked Judge William Sullivan to declare a mistrial. “I have to move for a mistrial, reluctantly,” he said. “The reason is that this is intentional misconduct on the part of the prosecution.”
Reddington noted that Heilbrun’s “mortal sin” reference came one week after prosecutors asked Clancy’s mother-in-law whether “murder is considered a mortal sin.” When that happened, Sullivan called a sidebar before Reddington could object, then instructed the jury to disregard the line of questioning. “ At the time, I put on record the fact that I … felt the court’s instructions were sufficient. They were forceful, they were right on point, and we moved forward without a motion for a mistrial. I made a tactical decision. But unfortunately, at this point, it’s a concern I have because this is just over the top,” Reddington said. “It’s the same thing again: talking about religion, talking about Heaven, talking about killing people and the impact of the effect that it would have on Lindsay as well as her children. The fact that this is not the first time that it occurred during the trial and the prosecution has previously brought up the concept of mortal sin …. I believe it was intentional misconduct, and I feel that the court should grant a motion for a mistrial.”
Assistant State Attorney Jennifer Sprague said that Heilbrun’s comment was not something she was trying to elicit. “The witness was explaining his reasoning. I don’t think it was intentional on the part of the witness,” she said. “I don’t think he was intentionally trying to inflame the jury or cause an issue in this case. I know I certainly wasn’t, because I didn’t ask a question about her religion or a question that would invoke that kind of response.”
“In regard to ‘Go to God, baby; Go to God,’ those were statements that have been made in evidence already,” Sullivan said. “And then he indicated that was part of her expectation that she and the children would be together in heaven with God. All right, now we’re getting a little closer to a problematic area. Then he testified she was raised as a Catholic, and ‘as I understand, Catholic considerations, that’s not necessarily what happens.’ How is any of that proper at this point?”
Sullivan threw up his hands and said he would not declare a mistrial, but was going to “strongly, and in perhaps the strongest language” explain to the witness that any kind of discussion about religion is inadmissible.
After bringing the jury back in, Sullivan told them, “The religion that the defendant was raised with is absolutely an inappropriate area of testimony. It is to be stricken. It is not to be considered. Secondly, the witness’s understanding of Catholic teachings and considerations is immaterial; it’s irrelevant; it is to be disregarded based on that testimony.”
Sullivan then excused the jury; they will return to hear more of the prosecution’s rebuttal case on Tuesday.
