Lindsay Clancy’s future could rest with ‘prosecution doctors’ as case echoes infamous Maine killings: expert

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A retired Massachusetts Superior Court judge says that a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity wouldn't be an easy out for Lindsay Clancy, saying that "prosecution doctors" would be the ones deciding when she would be released, and are likely more inclined to keep her locked up.

Clancy, 36, faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children — Cora, Dawson and Callan, all under age 6 — who were found strangled at the family's home in January 2023.

Retired Massachusetts Superior Judge Jack Lu told Fox News Digital that even if Clancy is found not guilty by reason of insanity, she would likely face a significant amount of time in a mental institution.

ACCUSED NC KILLER MOM PLANS INSANITY DEFENSE — AS RETIRED JUDGE SAYS MORE MAY FOLLOW LINDSAY CLANCY STRATEGY He said a group of mental health officials would be responsible for periodically reviewing her commitment at the facility, but noted these are people who overwhelmingly side with prosecutors and usually testify on their behalf.

LINDSAY CLANCY PROSECUTORS COME ACROSS AS 'TONE DEAF,' 'UNCARING' AND 'SNARKY,' DEFENSE ATTORNEY SAYS "They're viewed as an arm of the prosecution," Lu said of the officials.

"I'm going to be very frank, they kind of view this through the lens of if in doubt, lock them up...The people making release decisions have a prosecutorial mindset." SEND US A TIP Lu said, if Clancy is committed to a mental hospital, "I imagine she'd be committed year after year after year for some period of time." "If you are committed on a mental health basis because of a major criminal case in Massachusetts, it is hard to get out...

It is very difficult," he said.

He said there is another way for Clancy to be released from a mental institution if found not guilty by reason of insanity, which would be through the courts.

"The other way she could get out is if the government kept moving to commit her and the doctors did not really decide that she should be released, and then it goes to court and then a judge would decide whether she is a danger to herself or others," Lu said.

"It could be more of a contested hearing, and if she were to win that contested hearing, that is the second way that she gets out." LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE Clancy's case has drawn parallels with Constance Fisher, a then-24-year-old Maine woman who drowned her three children in a bathtub in 1954, according to the New York Times .

LISTEN TO THE NEW 'CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO' PODCAST She was committed to a mental hospital, and after several years, she returned home.