Courtroom audience member Brittany Romano draws criticism after viral video in Lindsay Clancy trial

A brief courtroom camera focus on audience member Brittany Romano during the Lindsay Clancy murder trial in Massachusetts was captured on a livestream and quickly spread online. Viewers interpreted the clip as a smile and wink directed at the camera, prompting criticism that the behavior was inappropriate given the case involving the deaths of three children.

Romano, a New York-based editor and writer whose work has appeared in publications such as Forbes, Glamour and USA Today, responded to the criticism through Instagram posts. She said she had received abusive messages and defended herself by noting that she grew up with Clancy, the defendant, and that her reaction was a laugh at a familiar face. Romano also remarked that the attention increased her online analytics.

Social-media users also speculated about a possible personal connection between Romano and Clancy after a childhood photograph was shared that some claimed showed the two together. Romano told a livestream audience that she and Clancy were childhood acquaintances, but neither party has confirmed a friendship and the identities in the photo have not been independently verified.

The trial itself is moving toward closing arguments, with prosecutors presenting psychiatric experts who dispute the defense’s claim that Clancy was experiencing postpartum psychosis at the time of the killings. A judge denied a defense request for a mistrial after one expert referenced the defendant’s Catholic faith, instructing jurors to disregard the religious comment.