Expressing intense perspectives about the Massachusetts mother accused of taking her three children’s lives could get you fired without any legal repercussions, according to a noted employment law expert monitoring the case.

Lindsay Clancy, 36, faces charges for allegedly strangling her children—Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months—and attempting suicide by leaping from a second-floor window. This incident reportedly occurred after she sent her husband out for takeout and a pharmacy errand, as stated by the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.

The case has sparked widespread attention across the country, drawing supporters to the courthouse and sparking heated debates online about culpability, especially after her defense claimed she was not guilty due to insanity or mental impairment.

“If you’re fired for engaging in fiery conversations supporting Lindsay Clancy, that action isn’t inherently illegal,” explained Nicole Brenecki, a New York-based lawyer with expertise in employment law.

Still, Brenecki warned, a fired employee could still raise legal concerns if their Clancy-related statements were used as a pretext to get rid of them for other reasons.

“If a case like this came to the court system, it would not be viewed in the context of the free speech alone,” she said. “It would also be viewed in the contexts of employment laws.”

As a “general rule,” however, she said employers would be allowed to prohibit such discussions about the case.

Other considerations would involve whether the speech took place during working hours, disrupted business operations or whether there was discrimination against protected groups involved in the firing.

“Every single case in our court system is very highly and intensely fact-based,” she said. “So we cannot give…any specific explanation as to whether something would be illegal or not. We have to look at the facts.”

Still, Brenecki advised against arguing over strong opinions at the water cooler.

“If you truly want to voice them in a workplace, then be prepared to have to find greener pastures,” she said.

There could be other consequences as well. Earlier this month, an attorney named Alex Thomason said in a TikTok video of his own that he has already spoken with men involved in custody disputes with women who have been posting the “solidarity hold a heart thing” for Clancy.

In one instance, he said, he is looking to have a woman’s visitation rights stripped away.

“I want to be able to have a forensic psychiatrist interview this woman just to see how wack-a-doodle she is, and we’re gonna use her TikTok posts,” he said.

Defense attorney Kevin Reddington has argued that Clancy was under the effects of postpartum psychosis, while prosecutors allege she acted deliberately and understood what she was doing was wrong.

Dozens of supporters have rallied outside the courthouse, carrying signs and wearing shirts with phrases like, “Stand in Peace for Lindsay.”

Jurors began deliberating after both sides delivered their closing arguments Thursday.

They will decide whether Clancy is guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter in the deaths of her three children — or not criminally responsible by reason of the insanity defense.

If convicted of any of the three counts of first-degree murder she faces, Clancy would see a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Chris Sale cut to the chase when questioned about his electrifying performance against the Dodgers on Thursday, where he clocked speeds surpassing 100 mph.

In a post-game chat with the Braves’ broadcast team following their narrow 1-0 victory, Sale delivered a tongue-in-cheek response to queries about his fastball: “With my arm.” The quip added levity to an exhilarating evening for the seasoned pitcher, who, at 37, unleashed a triple-digit fastball for the first time since 2018, while racking up 11 strikeouts.

This commanding shutout marked Sale’s first since June 5, 2019, against Kansas City.

Even more remarkable is Sale’s induction into an exclusive group. According to MLB statistician Sarah Langs, he is now the sixth player in history, aged 37 years and 150 days, to record a shutout with 10 or more strikeouts and zero walks.

Tracing back to 1900, Sale stands alongside legends such as Cy Young, Eddie Plank, Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, and Randy Johnson, all of whom accomplished this feat at a similarly mature age in their careers.

READ MORE: Key Witness in Jerry Sandusky Case Set to Recant Testimony, Shattering Decade-Old Conviction

Equally as impressive was the fact that Sale found the heater in a battle against Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani in the third inning of the win. 

Sale managed to get Ohtani, a four-time MVP, to swing at a pair of pitches before he threw the 100.1 mph fastball, which the two-way star fouled off.

Two pitches later, the slugger went down swinging at a slider.

Sale struck out Ohtani again in the fifth inning when the lefty got him to chase a 99.6 mph fastball way above the zone. 

Sale has 24 starts under his belt this season and boasts a 2.06 ERA across 144 innings. He’s also struck out 177 batters.

For over six weeks, the Lindsay Clancy trial has captivated audiences worldwide. The harrowing case, unraveling in a Massachusetts courtroom, delves into a tragic narrative of family, murder, and the contentious issue of postpartum psychosis.

Clancy, known for her idyllic summers on Cape Cod with her husband and three children, now faces grave charges in the deaths of her young ones: her five-year-old daughter Cora, three-year-old son Dawson, and eight-month-old son Callan. This trial has consumed her July and August, as she stands accused of first-degree murder.

A guilty verdict would mean life imprisonment without parole for Clancy.

Her defense team concedes that Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, did commit the tragic acts but insists that her mental state at the time—specifically postpartum psychosis—renders her not criminally responsible.

Experts speaking to the Daily Mail highlight a potential turn in the trial’s trajectory. Amidst the public’s anticipation of a guilty or not guilty verdict, there looms the possibility of a third outcome—a mistrial, adding another layer of complexity to this high-profile case.

That, said criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor Mark Bederow, bluntly would be a ‘disaster.’

Bederow told the Daily Mail: ‘There’s no way the Plymouth DA is going to reverse course,’ the former prosecutor said. ‘They’re so dug in they almost have no choice, politically, but to dig in deeper.’ 

‘Can you imagine a case like this being retried?’ he asked. ‘It would be a horrible thing.’ 

Dozens of witnesses have testified to the horror that met Clancy’s then-husband, Patrick, on January 24, 2023. Clancy had sent him out to pick up dinner and when he returned to their coastal Duxbury home, he discovered that his wife had strangled their three children with exercise resistance bands. 

She then slit her wrists and neck and jumped from a window on the top floor of the house.

Now paralyzed from the waist down and wheelchair bound as a result, the 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse has cast a pitiful figure at the defendant’s table.

James Gagliano, a retired FBI supervisory special agent and law enforcement expert, is also fearful that it could come down to a hung jury. He said he sensed that there will be one or two jurors who may hold out to hang the jury, which would force the state to try the case again.

‘The prosecution was better today and it will resonate in juror’s minds,’ Gagliano tweeted after both sides finished their closing arguments on Thursday.

‘The last thing the jury takes away (closing arguments today) might very well be what makes the case. Still fear a hung jury. But now feel conviction on a lesser charge than Murder One (at the very least) will be the order of the day. Time will tell.’

The Plymouth District Attorney’s office has asked the jury not to view the trial as a public debate on maternal health. But former judge Carol Erskine told the Daily Mail that would be hard to avoid. 

Witness after witness told the court that they knew Clancy had suicidal thoughts and called a crisis hotline more than once, and still, could not admit her for hospitalization because there was no suicide plan in place.

‘I’ve seen suicides in my courtrooms,’ Erskine said. ‘Not one case that I ever saw was anything other than impulsive. The notion that there has to be a plan in Massachusetts in order to get the degree of help you need is outrageous and needs to change.’

The fact that this is a case that came to trial at all is a source of outrage to some. But Bederow told the Daily Mail that it was one prosecutors had no choice but to bring, however difficult. Yet, while he defended the decision to prosecute, he had harsh words for the way in which the case has been argued.

‘This is a very clunky, choppy, disjointed case put together by a prosecution team who just doesn’t seem to appreciate the intricacies and nuances of these kinds of cases.’

Bederow, who has represented clients struggling with mental health, said it has been ‘shocking’ to watch prosecutors portray Clancy as a ‘selfish’ mother who ‘calculated’ the murder of her children and faked her own suicide.

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He described the prosecution’s approach to mental health as ‘very antiquated,’ expecting a defendant who is claiming an insanity defense to be ‘standing in a corner, staring at the wall, rocking back and forth, talking nonsense.’

In Massachusetts, the burden of proof lies with the prosecution when a defendant makes an insanity defense, meaning the defendant only has to prove they were insane at the time of the killing. Meanwhile, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant could not conform her actions to the tenets of the law.

Her lawyers and her ex-husband, who has now remarried and says he has forgiven her, claim that her actions were contaminated by more than a dozen medications that she had been prescribed for her worsening psychiatric condition and suicidal thoughts. Clancy is suing her medical providers for failing to properly diagnose and treat her.

The heart-wrenching trial, which is being televised, has seen a swell in public interest, and Clancy has garnered support both online and in-person.

The case, which has renewed criticisms over how the mental health system treats women, has not only sparked conspiracy theories on social media, but drawn hundreds of women to Plymouth, where they have stood outside the courthouse in pink clothing, protested at the state hospital where Clancy is being held and raised more than $1 million for family through a GoFundMe.

Clancy has also received support from Russell ‘Rusty’ Yates, the ex-husband of Andrea Yates, the Texas mother who drowned her five children in a bathtub in 2001. After being convicted of five counts of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison, Andrea’s verdict was overturned and she was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

‘If someone driving a car lost control because of a sudden heart attack and the car ran over and killed a pedestrian would you convict the driver of murder?’ asked Yates’s attorney, Wendell Odom, Jr, who wrote on the subject for the Daily Mail. ‘The answer is obvious.’

For his part, Bederow said he’ll ‘never understand’ why prosecutors didn’t try to get ahead of Clancy’s mental health struggles by acknowledging them – a move that could have helped them gain credibility and trust with the jury.

Instead, he said, the DA’s office likely ‘pissed off’ jurors with their ‘wooden’ treatment of Clancy’s ex-husband Patrick and their ‘inappropriate’ ‘stunt’ of asking Clancy’s former mother-in-law Susan about whether her Catholic faith led her to consider murder as ‘a mortal sin.’

‘That’s a dog whistle for the jury,’ Bederow said of the Catholicism question. ‘I can’t fathom that was an accident.’

On Monday, religion was raised again by a state witness, prompting the defense to move for a mistrial.

Judge William Sullivan denied the motion but instructed the jury to disregard the statement from the prosecution’s psychologist, who testified that he had asked Clancy if she knew suicide was a ‘mortal sin.’

‘Raising Catholicism or religion is a violation under Massachusetts General Rules of Evidence,’ Erskine said. ‘It’s expressly barred.’

She called the question that was asked of Susan, ‘one of the most egregious mistakes I’ve ever seen by a prosecutor.’ Although the DA’s office called it an accident, the retired Massachusetts judge said it seemed ‘intentional’ because it would be shocking for a prosecutor not to know that rule.

When Erskine first learned that the case was going to trial and that Clancy was being charged with first-degree murder, she wasn’t surprised. But she noted that those charges came ‘very quickly,’ before there was any investigation into Clancy’s mental health issues.

‘The issue of criminal responsibility is something the Commonwealth may have underestimated,’ Erskine said.

For her part, Erskine said: ‘There’s really no way to assume that a juror is thinking one way or another, and in particular by any facial expressions or anything else that you can see. 

‘I never ascribe to the believe that anybody can read what a juror is thinking based on watching them, taking notes or changing their facial expressions.’

‘As a judge, my job was to oversee the trial and make sure that it proceeded fairly and that the rights of the defendants were protected. But beyond that, my philosophy has always been that it’s up to 12 people to make that decision.’

After over thirty years of mystery, the last unknown victim of serial murderer Keith Hunter Jesperson, infamously dubbed the “Happy Face Killer,” has finally been identified. On Thursday, officials revealed the breakthrough discovery concerning the remains found beside a California highway.

Lydia Jane Wade McWhorter from Texas was the name unveiled by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. She was previously only referred to as “Claudia” by investigators. The identification was made possible through DNA analysis linking her to a maternal relative.

The body of McWhorter was discovered on August 30, 1992, off Highway 95, roughly seven miles north of Blythe, California.

Jesperson, a truck driver who crisscrossed states committing his heinous acts, confessed to the brutal murder of eight women, McWhorter being among them.

While Jesperson had mentioned knowing her as “Claudia,” authorities were unsuccessful in verifying if that name was authentic until now.

The identification comes after Riverside County investigators publicly renewed their effort to identify McWhorter in 2024, when genetic genealogy had connected the unknown victim to relatives on her father’s side but had not produced the maternal connection needed to confirm her identity.

News Media reported at the time that DNA testing had identified Summer Gonzales as the victim’s paternal half-sister. Gonzales said she wanted to learn her sister’s real name and eventually lay her to rest with family.

An investigative lead ultimately brought the cold case team to one of McWhorter’s direct maternal relatives, according to the district attorney’s office. Investigators then identified a possible genetic connection to another member of the maternal family.

A DNA sample confirmed that connection earlier this week, allowing investigators to positively identify McWhorter nearly 34 years after her body was found, authorities said.

McWhorter’s sisters, who grew up with her, had spent decades without knowing what happened to her after she disappeared from Texas in the 1990s, according to prosecutors.

“I want to thank the public for the role you play in our investigations,” Billy Hester, supervising investigator of the Cold Case Unit, said in a news release. “When people take the time to share information, submit a tip or simply pay attention to what is happening in their community, it can make a real difference. You may not know where a piece of information will lead, but our investigators will follow it. Most importantly, I hope this will finally bring closure to Lydia’s family.”

The district attorney’s Division of Victim Services is working with McWhorter’s family as they decide how to honor her and lay her to rest.

Jesperson was arrested in 1995, and eventually confessed to killing eight women between 1990 and 1995 in California, Washington state, Oregon, Florida, Nebraska and Wyoming.

He became known as the “Happy Face Killer” after sending letters about his crimes to the media that he signed with a smiley face.

He pleaded guilty to McWhorter’s murder in Riverside County on Jan. 8, 2010, and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. 

He is serving multiple life sentences in Oregon.

With McWhorter’s identification, Riverside County’s cold case team has now closed the final unidentified-victim case tied to the murders for which Jesperson was convicted.

An unexpected twist has emerged in the high-profile case of Jerry Sandusky, as one of the former Penn State football coach’s accusers is reportedly set to withdraw his previous testimony more than a decade after Sandusky’s conviction for child sex abuse.

Sandusky, now 82 years old, is scheduled for a court appearance on September 8, during an evidentiary hearing that promises to bring new revelations. One of his accusers, a key witness during the trial, reportedly intends to inform the court that Sandusky, the erstwhile defensive coordinator for the Nittany Lions, did not actually abuse him. The accuser alleges that his initial testimony was influenced by prosecutorial tactics, ABC News disclosed.

In a dramatic turn, the accuser, who goes by Victim 10, claims in a sworn affidavit acquired by the news outlet that prosecutors guided his testimony. They supposedly encouraged him to reconsider and reconstruct his statements, casting doubt on his prior allegations.

Victim 10 further asserts that throughout the pretrial phase, prosecutors suggested that any inconsistencies in his memory could be attributed to trauma, a claim meant to justify memory gaps.

“Throughout the pretrial process, I was informed—both overtly and subtly—that trauma might have fragmented my memory,” the affidavit states, according to ABC News. “I was told I could confidently affirm details I did not fully remember, and assured that this was a common, anticipated occurrence.”

Prosecutors are expected to address allegations at the hearing.

Sandusky’s defense team said in a motion seeking a new trial that Victim 10’s now-estranged wife was able to testify that he was not sexually abused by the ex-coach.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office, however, said that the woman’s opinion on what she thinks may have happened to Victim 10 when he was 10 years old, or any other Sandusky child victim, was “irrelevant and inadmissible,” the outlet reported.

Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of child sex abuse in 2012 for sexually abusing 10 boys over the span of a decade. In 2019, his 30-to 60-year prison sentence was reaffirmed by a judge.

During his trial in 2012, victims testified that Sandusky subjected them to a spectrum of abuse, from grooming to violent attacks.

READ MORE: Emotional Revelation: Shelley Fabares’s Cause of Death Unveiled After Co-Starring with Elvis Presley

The abuse, which took place from 1994 to 2009, involved young men he met with his Second Mile Charity, an organization he founded for at-risk youth that he used to find and groom child victims.

Letters written by the victims described the effect of their abuse as boys and in the years since, detailing their anxiety, difficulty with family and social relationships, and anger about what occurred.

One of them, described as Victim 4 in court records, said he does not forgive Sandusky and spoke of efforts to “attack us as if we had done something wrong.”

Sandusky’s arrest in 2011 — he retired from coaching at Penn State in 1999 — also prompted the firing of Hall of Fame head coach Joe Paterno, who died of lung cancer less than three months later.

Penn State has also paid more than $100 million to people who said they had been abused by Sandusky.

Former Penn State President Graham Spanier was previously convicted of child endangerment for failing to report the former coach’s abuse in 2001.

A federal judge tossed out Spanier’s conviction in 2019, a day before he was set to report to a two-month prison stint.

In 2024, Sandusky maintained his innocence from prison, insisting to the Daily Mail that his accusers were “coached and led” in their testimony and driven by money to lie.

“I never ever in my life ever thought about molesting anybody,” Sandusky told the outlet from Laurel Highlands State Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania.

“I was accused of heinous crimes, which I’ve never committed,” he added. “My wife was my only partner in sex and that was after marriage.”

Just days after her passing, the cause of death for beloved actress Shelley Fabares has been made public.

Fabares, aged 82, succumbed to a bout with pneumonia on August 22, as confirmed by a representative for her husband, M*A*S*H actor Mike Farrell, who spoke to the Daily Mail on Thursday.

Fabares, who captivated audiences with her performances alongside Elvis Presley in three films during her early career, had faced significant health challenges over the years.

In 2000, she was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis, a condition that eventually necessitated a liver transplant for her survival.

Her family announced her peaceful passing in Los Angeles earlier this week, sharing that she was surrounded by those she loved most.

In the statement announcing the news, they highlighted her decades-long career and the positive impact she had on her loved ones. 

In addition to her husband, Fabares is survived by her stepchildren and the rest of their family. 

‘To her family and friends, Shelley was a source of love, strength, laughter, and comfort,’ Fabares’s family said in its statement.

‘She was a devoted wife, cherished stepmother, daughter, sister, niece, aunt, family member, and loyal friend whose warmth, generosity, humor, and grace made an enduring difference in the lives of everyone who knew her. She had a remarkable ability to make people feel welcomed, valued, and cared for.’ 

‘For millions, Shelley was a beloved actress whose work became part of the fabric of American television and film,’ the family of the late star continued. 

‘From her memorable role as Mary Stone on The Donna Reed Show, where she also launched a successful recording career with her number one hit, Johnny Angel, to her appearances opposite Elvis Presley in three films, her beloved role on Coach, and her many other television and film performances, she brought talent, intelligence, and warmth to every performance.’

‘But to those closest to her, her greatest legacy was personal: the love she gave so freely, the friendships she treasured, and the family bonds she held dear,’ they added.

Gushing about Fabares, her husband and her family also said they ‘will remember Shelley for her kindness, loyalty, wit, courage and beautiful spirit.’

‘We will miss her deeply — not only as a celebrated performer, but as the loving and extraordinary person she was in our everyday lives,’ her family continued. 

‘We are heartbroken by her loss, yet profoundly grateful for the years we shared with her and for the joy, compassion, and love she brought to so many,’ they added. 

‘We ask that our family’s privacy be respected as we grieve. We take comfort in knowing that Shelley’s work and the memories she created with those who loved her will continue to live on.’

She famously starred opposite Presley in the 1967 musical comedy Clambake and was known for her television role as Mary on The Donna Reed Show. 

Fabares was also remembered for a guest appearance she made on the hit sitcom Mork & Mindy, starring the late Robin Williams. 

Fabares was born in Santa Monica, and her career in entertainment kicked off when she was still a toddler. 

Fabares’s mother got her started modeling at the age of three, and she later made her television debut at just age 10 in 1954 as part of Letter to Loretta. 

Fabares, who also had an aunt working as an actress, previously discussed growing up and working as a child actress. 

‘It’s hard to know who you are and what you are,’ she told The Roanoke Times in 1994.

‘The things that go into the making of a child — you’re not totally disciplined, you don’t always behave, you have a sense of freedom — those things are not allowed on a set.’ 

In 1958, she first played the part of Mary Stone, the teenage daughter of the titular star Donna and Dr Alex (Carl Betz) on The Donna Reed Show. 

She later started her singing career after Reed’s husband, producer Tony Owen, encouraged her and her onscreen brother Paul Peterson to incorporate singing into the show. 

Fabares’s song Johnny Angel debuted in 1962 and quickly became No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. 

Throughout her career, Fabares released a total of four albums. 

She was also previously married to music producer Lou Adler. Fabares and Adler were married for two years before they called it quits in 1966 but only later filed for divorce in 1978 and finalized their legal separation in 1980.

In 1965, she starred in her first movie with Presley in Girl Happy. 

They would also work together again in the 1966 film Spinout and Clambake the following year. 

Her television appearances include Brian’s Song in 1971, One Day at a Time alongside her aunt and The Practice in 1976. 

She also appeared on Police Story, The Rockford Files, The Love Boat and Murder, She Wrote. 

She married Farrell, now 87, in 1984 at an intimate wedding held at the home of her aunt. 

A meteorologist from Maine has skyrocketed to internet fame after an unexpected outbreak of giggles during a live broadcast sent viewers into fits of laughter. The moment occurred when he couldn’t contain his amusement during a weather segment and his attempts to regain composure only made the situation more hilarious.

Patrick Osborn was delivering his routine weather forecast on WABI, a Maine news station, when he startled Sunday morning viewers. Despite trying repeatedly, Osborn found himself unable to stifle his laughter, creating an unforgettable live television moment.

In the amusing footage, Osborn struggled to catch his breath while humorously announcing the day’s temperatures. His laughter overtook him to such an extent that his words became unintelligible, all while he kept apologizing between chuckles.

The unexpected giggle fest went on for nearly a minute. Osborn momentarily stepped out of view, only to return and eventually pass the spotlight to a colleague, leaving the studio and audience in stitches.

Recalling the moment with WABI co-anchor Brian Sullivan, Osborn said, “I got a fit of laughter that I was not able to control on air, unfortunately. A lot of times, something funny happens, and I’m able to contain myself, but this one, it was just a little too overwhelming.”

He revealed that the laughter was triggered by a prank he had attempted to play on fellow anchor Josh Gabbard, only for the joke to backfire on him.

During a commercial break, Osborn said he played a short Charlie Brown video for its sound effects but failed to realize the clip was actually an hour-long compilation that periodically replayed the sound every few minutes.

He said the audio then unexpectedly played again while he was starting his weather segment, almost instantly sending him into hysterical laughter.

“It’s the Charlie Brown phone call noise. It’s one where his mom or teacher calls him, and it’s the ‘Wa, wa, wa,’” Osborn told his station. “Something as silly and light-hearted as a Charlie Brown sound made me completely lose my composure.”

“I was just trying to keep it together but I couldn’t. Like, when you’re not supposed to laugh, you’re in an environment when you can’t laugh, and you’re trying to hold it back, that just makes it 10 times worse,” he said.

Osborn added: “I tried to get through it,” but “Josh had to leave the studio.”

“Thats the hardest I’ve heard … really anyone laugh,” Sullivan said, laughing along.

WABI posted the clip to TikTok. As of Thursday night, the clip had nearly nine million views.