Jurors in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial could start deliberating by the middle of this week. Because Clancy has already admitted to killing her children, the members of the jury aren’t deciding if she committed acts, but rather whether she is criminally responsible for her kids’ deaths. Judge William Sullivan told both parties that he’ll be using the latest model jury instruction on criminal ...

Supporters of Lindsay Clancy hold up heart symbols as they stand outside the Plymouth Courthouse on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026.

Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald/TNS

Jurors in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial could start deliberating by the middle of this week.

Because Clancy has already admitted to killing her children, the members of the jury aren’t deciding if she committed acts, but rather whether she is criminally responsible for her kids’ deaths.

Judge William Sullivan told both parties that he’ll be using the latest model jury instruction on criminal responsibility from the Supreme Judicial Court to form his own instructions.

According to the SJC instructions, to find Clancy guilty, the Commonwealth has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she was criminally responsible for the killings.

Here’s a few factors, based on the SJC instructions, the jurors will have to consider:

• Did Clancy have a “mental disease or defect” at the time of the killings? That doesn’t mean that Clancy had to have a specific diagnosis, the instructions say, although the disease or defect cannot include “an abnormality characterized only by repeated criminal conduct.”

• If the jurors determine that yes, she did, they’ll have to consider whether the disease or defect caused her to lack the capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of her acts or to conform her behavior to the law.

• An optional part of the model instructions allow the jurors to be aware that if Clancy is found guilty by reason of insanity, and a court determines she’s a danger to herself or others, she will be institutionalized after trial and reexamined at intervals for release. This section will only be read if the defense requests it, or the judge deems it necessary and the defense doesn’t object.

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