@meghannmcuniff: The judge in Lindsay Clancy's trial again specially instructed the jury not to consider religion after a prosecution witness testified about Clancy's Catholicism. Judge William Sullivan declined to declare the mistrial that defense attorney Kevin Reddington requested, but he instructed the jury in a more forceful way then he did when the issue arose last week. Sullivan called a side bar after Kirk Heilbrun, a forensic psychologist at Drexel University who evaluated Clancy, testified, "That was part of her expectation that she and the children would be together in heaven with God.... She was raised as a Catholic, and this, as I understand Catholic considerations, that's not necessarily what happens, but when I ask her about that, when I said, 'Isn't suicide a mortal sin?'" Court was not in session for about 25 minutes. When it resumed, the jury was out of the courtroom and defense attorney Kevin Reddington asked Sullivan to declare a mistrial. He referenced Sullivan's instruction to the jury last week when Assistant District Attorney Shanan Buckingham confirmed Clancy's former mother in law is Catholic and asked, "Are you aware that murder is considered a mortal sin?" Reddington told Judge Sullivan today (Monday, August 24, day 19), "The fact that this is not the first time that it occurred during the trial, and the prosecution has previously brought up the concept of mortal sin, based on your ruling in the past, in conjunction with the fact that they brought it up again, I believe it was intentional misconduct, and I feel that the court should grant the motion." Jennifer Sprague, an assistant district attorney in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, said she didn't mention religion in her question, and a slide about Helibrun's analysis said nothing "about Catholicism, about mortal sins, about any of that. The witness was explaining his reasoning. I don't think it was intentional on part of the witness." Judge Sullivan told the jury, "The religion that the defendant was raised with is absolutely an inappropriate area of testimony. It is to be stricken. It is not to be considered." The discussion was 12 minutes. You can watch all of it on my YouTube and Facebook. #law #crime #court

Meghann Cuniff

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Monday 24 August 2026 21:08:58 GMT