Lindsay Clancy spoke directly in court Tuesday, repeatedly answering, “Yes, Your Honor,” as she agreed to let prosecutors treat certain forensic facts as established hours before a state police trooper testified that investigators recovered no usable fingerprints from a knife or three exercise bands.
The developments narrowed the Massachusetts mothers murder trial toward its central dispute: whether Clancy was criminally responsible when her three children were killed inside the familys Duxbury home.
Before jurors entered the courtroom, Judge William Sullivan questioned Clancy about a stipulation covering certain evidence.
“You understand that by signing the stipulation, youre agreeing that the Commonwealth does not have to prove these certain facts that are contained in the stipulation,” Sullivan said. “Do you understand that?”
“Yes, Your Honor,” Clancy replied.
Asked whether anyone had forced or threatened her to accept the agreement, Clancy said, “No, Your Honor.”
Sullivan found that Clancy was competent and had entered the stipulation “knowingly, intelligently, voluntarily and willingly.”
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Defense attorney Kevin Reddington said the agreement would prevent prosecutors from calling dozens of witnesses solely to establish the chain of custody for blood, bodily fluids, exercise bands and DNA evidence.
“We have not been contesting the governments case in chief, if you will,” Reddington said.
The stipulation is not a guilty plea or an admission that Clancy was criminally responsible for the deaths of Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months.
WATCH: Former prosecutor explains strategy behind Lindsay Clancy evidence agreement
Margaret McLean, a former criminal prosecutor and trial attorney who teaches law at Boston Colleges Carroll School of Management, said the agreement allows the defense to steer jurors away from repetitive forensic testimony and toward Clancys mental state.
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“The legal strategy behind the move by the defense is to steer the jurys focus away from the horrific nature of the acts and to that central issue of criminal intent, or what we would call mens rea,” McLean told Fox News Digital.
McLean said Clancys measured responses Tuesday should not be taken as evidence of her mental condition on Jan. 24, 2023.
“She sounded rational. She understands what shes doing,” McLean said. “But remember, the Commonwealths burden of proof is to prove that she was sane beyond a reasonable doubt at the time the crimes were committe
