A spectator at the Lindsay Clancy murder trial drew criticism online after bringing an emotional-support pug, Chorizo, into Plymouth Superior Court. The dog’s presence became a distraction from the proceedings as jurors began deliberating whether Clancy is criminally responsible for the deaths of her three children.

Clancy, 36, admits strangling Cora, Dawson and Callan at the family home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in January 2023, but denies murder on the grounds of insanity, attributing her actions to psychosis linked to medication prescribed for postnatal depression. The 12-person jury may convict her of first- or second-degree murder or manslaughter; murder carries a life sentence, while manslaughter can carry up to 20 years. A finding of no criminal responsibility would result in her being committed to a state mental-health facility.