Lindsay Clancy trial jury still deadlocked by one juror on sixth day
One juror could be standing in the way of a verdict in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother who has admitted to killing her three children.
The deadlocked jury went home without a verdict after a sixth day of deliberations on Thursday.
Lindsay Clancy and attorney Kevin Reddington watch as Judge William Sullivan tells the jury to keep discussing a possible verdict after jurors said for a second time they couldn’t agree whether Lindsay Clancy was criminally responsible for killing her three children in 2023 The Patriot Ledger/AP
The jury’s foreperson sent the judge a note saying a single juror would not follow the court’s instruction about reasonable doubt, according to Associated Press.
“There’s a person who has doubt but will not listen to the judge’s instructions,” Clancy’s lawyer Kevin Reddington said.
“If we come back here in a half-hour with a mistrial because of a juror that has just spurned the instructions of this court, it’s a shame — it’s a real shame.”
The judge on Thursday spoke with each juror individually, repeating his instructions on reasonable doubt.
He refused the defence’s request to remove the juror.
“I don’t feel it’s appropriate for me to say, ’I agree with one juror or the 11,” Judge William Sullivan said.
“I have asked if they are able to follow my instructions. They swore earlier that they could.”
The jury will return on Friday to see if it can reach a decision.
Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse, doesn’t deny strangling her children in the basement of their Massachusetts home in 2023 before trying to take her own life.
Her lawyer argues she is not criminally responsible for the deaths because she was suffering postpartum psychosis at the time.
Prosecutors say she knew what she was doing when she killed Cora, 5, Dawson, 3 and Callan, eight months.
Medical experts across the trial have voiced different opinions about her mental state at the time she killed the children.
What happens if the jury can’t reach a verdict?
If the jury ultimately can’t agree on a verdict, the judge could declare a mistrial.
Prosecutors would then have to decide whether to put Clancy on trial again, drop the charges or try to negotiate a plea deal with her lawyer.
If the jury decides Clancy was criminally responsible for her actions, it could convict her of either murder or manslaughter.
If she is acquitted, a judge could still order her confined to a mental health facility if an evaluation determines that she poses a danger to the public.
Reported with Associated Press
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