Lindsay Clancy hires Karen Read's attorney to argue for case to be dismissed after mistrial

An attorney who represented Karen Read has been enlisted to help get the case against Lindsay Clancy dismissed. Clancy killed her three children in January 2023 and pleaded guilty by reason of insanity. Clancy’s trial ended in a mistrial, and she is facing a possible retrial.

Veteran Boston defense attorney Martin Weinberg has been brought in, a Tuesday court filing in Plymouth Superior Court revealed, to argue that the case should be dismissed on the grounds of double jeopardy and “related matters,” per the Daily Mail.

Weinberg had argued that Read’s case should be dismissed after her first murder trial ended in a mistrial. Read was accused of running over her Boston police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe, leaving him to die outside the home of his friend and fellow officer on January 29, 2022. She claimed she was innocent and being framed by O’Keefe’s police friends.

Her first trial ended in a hung jury, and Weinberg argued to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that five jurors in the trial had later said they were only deadlocked on the manslaughter count, and that the jury had unanimously agreed that she was not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene. Those claims, Weinberg argued, would violate double jeopardy laws to try her again on second-degree murder and leaving the scene. The court ultimately ruled against him. Read was acquitted in her second trial.

The late summer trial of Lindsay Clancy resulted in a mistrial being declared after around 37 hours of deliberations by the jury. It was revealed that there was one lone holdout juror who wanted to find her guilty, while the remaining 11 jurors wanted to find her not quilty by reason of insanity. The jury had been instructed to consider charges of both murder and manslaughter against Clancy. In an attempt to prevent a mistrial, Clancy’s defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, attempted to get the one juror thrown off the jury, which was denied.

One of the jurors in the Clancy trial, Kellie Farina, was a member of a Facebook group called Free Karen Read. When Read was acquitted, Farina wrote, “Over and Out Page. Massachusetts Jury did their rightful duty today. Karen's FREE," with a heart emoji.

Reddington argued during the trial that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis when she strangled her three young children to death and attempted to kill herself. The prosecution argued that the killings were premeditated.

A hearing regarding the next steps in the case will take place on September 29.