TikToker called to court for Lindsay Clancy trial slammed for 5-word comment made on stand

As the Lindsay Clancy case continues in court, the jury was surprisingly sent home due to ‘unforeseen circumstances’.

This comes as the 36-year-old faces three counts of first-degree murder over the deaths of her children, five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan, at their family home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in January 2023.

While Clancy’s defence is not disputing that she killed the children, she has pleaded not guilty to criminal responsibility, arguing that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time of the deaths.

The jury was dismissed early yesterday (August 20), with Judge William Sullivan telling them: “It’s going to be a short day, but also gear up for a longer day tomorrow.”

This came after the jurors had listened to an hour of testimony from Brigham and Women’s Hospital chaplain Sheila Cavanaugh.

This followed a shorter afternoon on Wednesday (August 19), when the judge told the jury that the court had encountered ‘unforeseen circumstances’.

He said: “This is not something we saw coming, but you’re not to speculate about what it is. You’re not to hold it against either side. It’s just something that we have to deal with.”

TikToker slammed after appearing in court

On Wednesday, social worker Emily Thorndike appeared in court briefly to share her experience at one of the hospitals Clancy had been treated at. No jurors were present during this.

However, Judge Sullivan made the decision to rule against allowing the testimony.

A few weeks prior, Thorndike had taken to TikTok to publicly share her thoughts on the case.

In court, she explained that she had posted the video after hearing the testimony of ex-husband Patrick Clancy, who had described McLean Hospital, where Clancy had spent four days as an inpatient and Thorndike had worked, although the two did not cross paths.

Addressing the court without the jury present, Thorndike said: “I was emotional because I felt like what was discussed in court was not aligned with what my experience was.”

She added: “I felt it was misleading to indicate that there’s sort of an in-depth doctor session when it's very brief.”

However, it was a simple comment she made that has caused a stir on the internet. While in court, she was asked which town she lives in, to which Thorndike replied: “I actually live in Brooklyn, New York, but I summer on Cape Cod. I'm spoiled like that.”

This prompted a reaction on social media, with one user writing: “She proved the point that people like her were not qualified to help.”

Another said: “Wait maam this is a murder trial not a conference panel.”

And a third added: “She immediately discredited herself. How embarrassing.”

The Lindsay Clancy case continues

Earlier this month, details of diary entries that were written before the deaths were reported by CBS News.

The court heard how Clancy wrote: “Hearing him cry for one-plus hours and not intervening just about killed me. I even said the words ‘I want to die’ to Pat while he was crying.”

In another excerpt, she added: “I feel like I’m drowning every day.”

In another entry in November 2022, Clancy also wrote: “It’s like I'm so desperate to get a mental break from taking care of everyone that my mind is trying to make something physically wrong with me.”

She added: “I now have horrible insomnia and anxiety which is causing depression.

“I have no appetite, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I want help. I want to be well.”