August 29, 2026
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Michael's Daily Notes
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I want to start by saying I am normally a trial junkie. As a lawyer I gravitate toward high-profile civil and criminal cases. But not this one. I find the subject matter too difficult to digest. Still, it's hard to miss the Massachusetts murder case that has so many spellbound.
So I've followed it at arm's length. The outlines are unavoidable. Cora was 5. Dawson was 3. Callan was 7 months. Their mother killed them in the family's Duxbury home on January 24, 2023. Nobody disputes that. This trial was never about the act. It's about the mind behind it.
Which is why the jury has five choices instead of two. First-degree murder requires premeditation - a decision thought on, however briefly, before it's carried out. Mandatory life, no parole. Second-degree requires the intent to kill but not the forethought. Life, with a shot at parole someday. Manslaughter requires neither, only conduct so reckless that death followed. Twenty years on the inside. There's also a straight acquittal.
And then there’s a verdict that sits off that ladder entirely: not criminally responsible. It concedes she did it, but asks something else: did mental illness leave her unable to appreciate that what she was doing was wrong, or unable to stop herself? Either one is enough. Here's the part that surprises people - the Commonwealth has to disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt. She never had to prove she was insane. And it's no walk. It's a locked psychiatric hospital.
Her lawyers say postpartum psychosis and a voice in her head. Prosecutors say a mother who no longer wanted to live and decided her children wouldn't either.
Twelve people went home Friday without an answer. More than ten hours over two days.
They're back Monday.
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DAILY POLL
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Would you find Lindsay Clancy guilty of murder?
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TOP STORY
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Social site 'X' said Thursday it identified about 200 accounts from a suspected Chinese bot farm posting content aimed at manipulating American debate over AI data centers and energy policy, part of a broader network of 200,000 flagged accounts, while polling shows much of the backlash is rooted in genuine concerns over energy costs and local impacts.
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TODAY'S YOUTUBE
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SPONSORED BY PARX CASINO
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IN OTHER NEWS
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Jurors in Lindsay Clancy's Plymouth Superior Court trial ended Friday without a verdict after 10.5 hours of deliberations over whether the Duxbury mother is criminally responsible for killing her three young children, with a legal analyst predicting no decision before Monday or Tuesday.
President Donald Trump says the U.S. has reached a sweeping deal with Venezuela to gain access to 65 billion barrels of oil reserves, though experts caution that significant production increases and lower gas prices could take years.
The Trump administration told the Supreme Court that construction of the new White House East Wing ballroom was 65 percent finished as part of its argument against halting the work, but budget and other government documents reviewed by The Post suggest the project is far less complete.
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A MESSAGE FROM COMCAST
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DNA extracted from 21 skeletons in Colombia's Bogotá Altiplano reveals a population that lived there for roughly 4,000 years before vanishing, with no known ancient relatives or modern descendants, though they share some ties to Chibchan speakers of Panama.
Pennsylvania health officials are facing scrutiny over their classification of two Lancaster County deaths as measles-related, with questions emerging about whether the evidence supports that conclusion, opening the door for anti-vaccine activists and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to sow doubt.
Half a year after the U.S. and Israel launched a bombing campaign that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and devastated Iran's military, the regime under new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has hardened its grip, kept the Strait of Hormuz largely shut and plunged Iranians into their worst economic crisis since the 1980s.
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MORE NEWS
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At least 543 people are dead and more than 2,000 missing — including 90 Americans — after a Himalayan landslide triggered catastrophic flash flooding along the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday, with debris tearing at least 62 miles down the Trishuli River.
During a visit to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating the U.S. Space Academy to train personnel for the Space Force, NASA and the commercial space industry, with a location to be chosen soon.
A viral video showing a homeless encampment near UC Berkeley housing has sparked safety and sanitation concerns among parents, students and local business owners.
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For the Left
A federal judge declined to immediately block President Donald Trump’s latest executive order restricting birthright citizenship, directing immigrant families challenging the policy to amend their lawsuit before she considers an injunction.
For the Right
Fox News anchor Bret Baier defended reporter Jonathan Hunt after Trump criticized his Iran coverage, clarifying that Hunt did not report Trump wanted talks with Tehran and noting Trump’s own statement on the matter to prove it.
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