A TikTok video sparked a dispute during Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial. Her defense team wants to add a former mental hospital staff member to the witness list. This staff member has criticized witnesses for sharing false information about the psychiatric facility where Clancy was treated before she allegedly killed her children.

Defense attorney Kevin Reddington asked Judge William Sullivan to allow Emily Thorndike, a former McLean clinical social worker, to testify. He claims her insights could counteract misleading descriptions of the hospital, portrayed as a well-equipped facility offering extensive treatment options.

“Her involvement in this case came about after one of the prosecutors — I don’t recall which — made it out on direct examination that McLean is some kind of a five-star institution where the doctors, the psychiatrists, the psychotherapists, and the counselors were all banging into each other in the hallway trying to interview Miss Clancy, who was just blithely refusing care and treatment, which is not the case,” Reddington said.

Reddington discovered Thorndike after she posted a video on TikTok claiming that witnesses had misrepresented McLean Hospital. Thorndike, no longer working at McLean, accused this portrayal of being false.

Prosecutors argue that Thorndike lacks firsthand knowledge of Clancy’s treatment as she left McLean a year before Clancy’s stay. They also pointed out her online engagement with the trial as a concern for her credibility as a witness.

Judge Sullivan expressed skepticism about Thorndike’s testimony evaluating Clancy’s care, commenting the trial isn’t “Tripadvisor”. However, he remains undecided on allowing her testimony regarding staffing and programs at the hospital.

The dispute arises before jurors heard messages Lindsay Clancy sent to her psychiatric nurse practitioner, Rebecca Jollotta, in late 2022. Clancy expressed struggles with insomnia, medication, and intrusive thoughts.

• Nov. 30: Clancy described worsening depression and feeling like she couldn’t continue living that way.
• Dec. 1: She expressed having intrusive thoughts and wanted medication changes.
• Dec. 2, 7:51 a.m.: Clancy reported waking with distressing thoughts of wanting an end to her struggles.
• Dec. 2, 9:04 a.m.: She indicated a willingness to try any treatment due to ongoing insomnia and numbness.
• Dec. 3: After not taking Ativan, she experienced intrusive thoughts and depression. She felt better after taking the medication.

Jollotta testified, interpreting Clancy’s messages as symptoms of depression, not suicidal ideation. She decided not to direct Clancy to seek emergency care immediately.

Fox News Digital has sought comments from McLean Hospital regarding the case.