Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial has gripped the American public for the last five weeks.<\/p>\n
The 36-year-old former nurse killed her three small children in the basement of their family home in Massachusetts.<\/p>\n
Charged with three counts of first-degree murder, she does not dispute killing her two sons and daughter in 2023.<\/p>\n
But her lawyer argues she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time, and therefore could not distinguish right from wrong.<\/p>\n
The prosecution, on the other hand, argues Clancy made a calculated, intentional decision to kill them and knew right from wrong in that moment.<\/p>\n
On Monday morning, a jury of nine women and three men will continue to deliberate, with several options before them:<\/p>\n
This hinges on the postpartum psychosis defence – her legal team argued that Clancy hallucinated a voice after giving birth to her youngest child that told her to kill the children.<\/p>\n
Expert witnesses told the court how severe this illness can be, and family members testified about Clancy’s state of mind.<\/p>\n
Under Massachusetts law, there is no burden on Clancy to prove her mental illness and that she lacked criminal responsibility.<\/p>\n
Rather, it is on the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that she was criminally responsible when she killed her children, criminal defence lawyer Elyse Hershon told the BBC.<\/p>\n
They can do this by either proving beyond reasonable doubt that she didn’t suffer from a mental illness at the time or that, while she had a mental illness, she still controlled her actions and knew they were wrong.<\/p>\n
A not guilty verdict would mean Clancy went free but that is considered highly unlikely. Much more likely is a not guilty by reason of insanity, which would result in Clancy being detained at a hospital.<\/p>\n
“The case really comes down to where she is going to serve the rest of her life; the defence thinks it should be a psychiatric facility, the prosecution thinks it should be in a state prison,” Hershon said.<\/p>\n
Watch: What is postpartum psychosis and why is it central in the Lindsay Clancy trial?<\/p>\n
This is the most serious potential outcome for Clancy – being found guilty of first-degree murder, which is the intentional and premeditated killing of another person.<\/p>\n
In the state of Massachusetts, this conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.<\/p>\n
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