Weather 
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
If jurors find Lindsay Clancy not criminally responsible for strangling her three children, her civil commitment to a mental institution could come up for review every year — making it difficult to predict how long she could remain hospitalized, according to a retired judge.
Clancy would not face “a ‘life sentence in a public mental hospital,'” Carol Erskine, a retired Massachusetts judge and child welfare advocate, wrote in a post on X. “She could remain hospitalized for many years — even indefinitely — but only as long as the legal criteria for civil commitment continue to be met.”
The first move is in the trial judge’s hands, Erskine later told Fox News Digital.
LINDSAY CLANCY DIDN’T SHOW ‘BREAK WITH REALITY’ AS JURY WEIGHS PSYCHOSIS DEFENSE: SUSAN SMITH PROSECUTOR
“The initial aspect of what happens is an order by the judge,” she said. “If the judge so orders it, a 40-day evaluation in a locked unit.”
After that, there would be an evaluation and hearing on whether she should be committed for further.
“If the recommendation is for a civil commitment because there’s likelihood of serious harm under the statute, then there would be a commitment for a period of six months,” she said. “And that would, again, be in a locked unit.”
LINDSAY CLANCY DEFENSE SCORES ‘EXTREMELY HELPFUL’ PSYCHOSIS CONCESSION AS EXPERT FLAGS NEXT HURDLE
FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X
Beyond that, Clancy would be up for review every year to determine whether there is still a likelihood of serious harm and if she should still be be committed to a mental institution, she said.
SIGN UP TO GET THE LATEST TRUE CRIME NEWS
“It’s really impossible to say how long she would be committed if she’s committed because it all depends on if she is initially committed [and] these yearly evaluations,” Erskine said.
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE
After the evaluation, the facility’s superintendent could recommend discharge. If there is a petition to discharge, the district attorney’s office and Clancy’s defense attorney can be heard in court.
PROSECUTOR IN INFAMOUS KILLER MOM CASE SAYS WOMEN ON LINDSAY CLANCY JURY MAY BRING ‘STRANGE TWIST’ TO VERDICT
That’s just one potential outcome as jurors, who began deliberating Thursday, weigh Clancy’s fate.
GOT A TIP?
Clancy is charged with three counts of murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, who was 8 months old. Jurors could find her guilty of first- or second-degree murder, manslaughter, or not criminally responsible via the insanity defense.
LISTEN TO THE NEW ‘CRIME & JUSTICE WITH DONNA ROTUNNO’ PODCAST
LINDSAY CLANCY DESCRIBED A MALE VOICE ORDERING HER TO ‘KILL HER CHILDREN AND KILL HERSELF’: TESTIMONY
Investigators have said that after strangling them with exercise bands, she attempted to kill herself by cutting herself and jumping out a second-floor window. The resulting injuries have left her paralyzed.
LINDSAY CLANCY’S FAMILY WAS ‘VERY CONCERNED’ ABOUT HER MENTAL HEALTH IN THE MONTHS BEFORE SHE KILLED HER KIDS
But her limited mobility is likely not going to be a factor when she is evaluated for her potential for harm in the future, Erskine said.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“I don’t think it would play a huge role in how they evaluate whether she has a mental illness that creates a likelihood of serious harm because we’re talking about serious harm to herself as well,” she explained.
