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If jurors find Lindsay Clancy not criminally responsible for strangling her three children, her civil commitment to a mental institution could come up for review every year — making it difficult to predict how long she could remain hospitalized, according to a retired judge.
Clancy would not face “a ‘life sentence in a public mental hospital,'” Carol Erskine, a retired Massachusetts judge and child welfare advocate, wrote in a post on X. “She could remain hospitalized for many years — even indefinitely — but only as long as the legal criteria for civil commitment continue to be met.”
The first move is in the trial judge’s hands, Erskine later told Fox News Digital.
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“The initial aspect of what happens is an order by the judge,” she said. “If the judge so orders it, a 40-day evaluation in a locked unit.”
After that, there would be an evaluation and hearing on whether she should be committed for further.
“If the recommendation is for a civil commitment because there’s likelihood of serious harm under the statute, then there would be a commitment for a period of six months,” she said. “And that would, again, be in a locked unit.”
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Beyond that, Clancy would be up for review every year to determine whether there is still a likelihood of serious harm and if she should still be committed to a mental institution, she said.
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“It’s really impossible to say how long she would be committed if she’s committed because it all depends on if she is initially committed [and] these yearly evaluations,” Erskine said.
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After the evaluation, the facility’s superintendent could recommend discharge. If there is a petition to discharge, the district attorney’s office and Clancy’s defense attorney can be heard in court.
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That’s just one potential outcome as jurors, who began deliberating Thursday, weigh Clancy’s fate.
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Clancy is charged with three counts of murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, who was 8 months old. Jurors could find her guilty of first- or second-degree murder, manslaughter, or not criminally responsible via the insanity defense.
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Investigators have said that after strangling them with exercise bands, she attempted to kill herself by cutting herself and jumping out a second-floor window. The resulting injuries have left her paralyzed.
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But her limited mobility is likely not going to be a factor when she is evaluated for her potential for harm in the future, Erskine said.
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“I don’t think it would play a huge role in how they evaluate whether she has a mental illness that creates a likelihood of serious harm because we’re talking about serious harm to herself as well,” she explained.
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