LINDSAY CLANCY’S DEFENSE MAKES SH0CK MOVE—FORMER PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL WORKER WHO SLAMMED PROSECUTORS ON TIKTOK COULD TAKE THE STAND
Lindsay Clancy’s attorney wants a former psychiatric hospital employee whose TikTok criticized prosecutors to testify at his client’s trial.
Before the jury entered the courtroom Tuesday, Aug. 11, the 11th day of Clancy’s murder trial, Judge William Sullivan heard arguments from the defense and prosecutors about why the potential witness should or should not take the stand.
The hearing was streamed live by the Associated Press.
Kevin Reddington, Clancy’s attorney, previously filed a motion to add Emily Thorndike to the witness list after she posted a viral about her experience working at McLean Hospital, where Clancy was briefly committed in December 2022.
Thorndike, a licensed independent clinical social worker, worked at McLean for multiple years, eventually leaving in December 2021 — a year before Clancy was committed there.
Reddington argued that Thorndike could provide relevant testimony about the hospital being understaffed on holidays, including New Year’s, which is when Clancy was at the facility.
Thorndike, in a nearly 10-minute TikTok video, claimed that prosecutors have misrepresented the level of care at McLean during their questioning of Clancy’s ex-husband, Patrick Clancy. Further, she sharply criticized prosecutors, saying in the caption she wanted to address their “lies and misrepresentation.”
Thorndike’s video, which was posted on July 29, has over 280,000 likes on TikTok.
On Tuesday, prosecutors argued against adding Thorndike to the witness list, noting her criticisms and that she had been following the trial, while reiterating that she did not work at the hospital when Clancy was there.
Sullivan did not immediately rule on the motion but said he was inclined to have Thorndike — or another witness able to testify about staffing levels — questioned during voir dire, without the jury present.
Weeks after Clancy was discharged from McLean, she fatally strangled her three children — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3 and 8-month-old Callan — with exercise bands.
Clancy does not deny killing her children, but the defense claims she was not criminally responsible, arguing that she was overmedicated and suffering from postpartum psychosis.
After killing the children, Clancy jumped out of a second-story window in an apparent suicide attempt, which left her paralyzed from the waist down.
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