Kevin Reddington accused prosecutors in the Clancy Lindsay trial on Friday of saying “Shut her up” as Lindsay Clancy was wheeled out of the courtroom sobbing the day before. The Plymouth district attorney’s office denied that version and said the courtroom recording captured someone whispering “shut it off.”
The dispute came up in open court without the jury present while Judge William F. Sullivan was trying to have Dr. Alia Goodheart retake the stand for cross-examination. It unfolded during testimony tied to autopsy photos being shown to jurors in a case that already centers on three counts of first-degree murder.
Friday in Plymouth court
Reddington raised the accusation after Thursday’s testimony by Dr. Kimberly Springer, who conducted the autopsy on 8-month-old Callan Clancy. Clancy sobbed loudly at the end of that testimony, and the courtroom later heard a fight over whether the microphone picked up “Shut her up” or “shut it off.”
Beth Stone said a review of the video showed that someone in the courtroom whispered “shut it off,” and she said the remark referred to one of the monitors as autopsy photos were being displayed. That account shifted the focus from the defendant’s reaction to the mechanics of what the courtroom audio actually captured.
William F. Sullivan warns spectators
Clancy has admitted to strangling her three children — 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and Callan — with exercise bands in her Duxbury home on Jan. 24, 2023. She has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, and the defense says she suffered from postpartum psychosis and lacked criminal responsibility.
The exchange also prompted a visible reaction in the courtroom. Jennifer Sprague appeared to turn to Shanan Buckingham and mouth “what?” after the accusation, while Sullivan later warned spectators that there was to be no inappropriate behavior.
The immediate dispute now turns on the recording itself and the speaker it did not identify. Reddington has put the courtroom comment on the record as a challenge to the prosecution’s conduct, while the district attorney’s office has answered with a different reading of the same audio.
