LINDSAY CLANCY: PSYCHIATRIST SAYS “GO TO GOD” SHOWED SHE KNEW HER ACTIONS WERE WRONG

A prosecution psychiatrist has offered a sharply different interpretation of Lindsay Clancy’s mental state during the January 2023 deaths of her three children.

Dr. Avram Mack, testifying as a rebuttal witness, told jurors that although Clancy may have been experiencing a major depressive episode, he found no clear evidence that she was psychotic or manic when the killings occurred.

THE WORDS THAT BECAME IMPORTANT

Mack pointed to Clancy’s reported statement “Go to God” as one piece of evidence he believed demonstrated that she understood what she was doing and recognized its significance.

He also cited her ability to behave normally in the period before the killings, including taking her daughter to a medical appointment, as part of his assessment.

For prosecutors, those details support their argument that Clancy retained the ability to distinguish right from wrong.

 THE DEFENSE SEES IT DIFFERENTLY

Clancy’s defense does not dispute that she caused the deaths of Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months.

Instead, her attorneys argue that she was experiencing postpartum psychosis, including hallucinations and delusions, and therefore should not be held criminally responsible.

Defense forensic psychiatrist Dr. Phillip Resnick previously testified that Clancy was “frankly psychotic” and described her as being influenced by what he characterized as a command hallucination.

Another defense witness, forensic psychologist Paul Zeizel, testified that Clancy had reported hearing a male voice commanding her to kill her children and herself.

TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT INTERPRETATIONS

The competing psychiatric testimony has placed one central question before the jury:

Was Clancy so affected by psychosis that she could not understand the wrongfulness of her actions — or did she retain that understanding despite suffering from a serious mental-health condition?

That distinction is critical because Clancy has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility.

The prosecution is continuing with rebuttal testimony before closing arguments.

 THE FINAL QUESTION

The words “Go to God” may be only one small piece of a much larger body of evidence.

But prosecutors believe they reveal something crucial about Clancy’s state of mind.

The defense argues the opposite: that those actions and words occurred within a severe psychiatric crisis.

Now, the jury must decide which interpretation the evidence supports.