Mistrial declared in Lindsay Clancy case after jury deadlocked 11-1
A Massachusetts judge declared a mistrial in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial after seven days of deliberations ended without a unanimous verdict.
Judge declares mistrial as jurors fail to reach verdict in Clancy child-murder case
A mistrial has been formally declared in the trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts woman accused of strangling her three young children in January 2023, after seven days of jury deliberations ended without a unanimous verdict, TheJournal.ie reports.
Judge William Sullivan discharged the jury on Friday after receiving a note stating it was with a "heavy heart" that jurors could not reach a decision. "The jury did not ask to be sent back, which would be a possibility if they had requested to be sent back to them, but under the statute and the case law, I don't feel I have any choice but to declare mistrial," Sullivan told the court.
He briefly put the declaration on hold to allow the defence to file an appeal with a higher court, but ultimately proceeded with formally discharging the jury.
The deadlock stood at 11-1. On Thursday, defence counsel Kevin Reddington had sought the removal of the single holdout juror, telling Sullivan that the jury foreperson had indicated in a written note that the holdout juror "made statements acknowledging doubt but refuses to apply it." Reddington told the court there was "one juror who refuses to listen to the law that you've given him or her on reasonable doubt." Sullivan declined to remove the juror and instead sent the panel back to continue deliberating.
On Wednesday, in a bid to break the impasse, Sullivan had issued what is known as a "dynamite charge" — a last-resort instruction that encourages deadlocked jurors to continue discussing the case and work toward agreement.
Clancy, 36, does not deny killing her children — five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan — in the basement of the family home in Duxbury, Massachusetts. Her defence argued she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time and heard a voice ordering her to kill her children, which, if accepted, would have excused her from criminal responsibility. She pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Following the killings, Clancy jumped from a second-storey window in what appeared to be a suicide attempt and has been paralysed from the waist down since. The former nurse faced life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of first-degree murder. Jurors could also have returned verdicts of second-degree murder, manslaughter, or not guilty by reason of insanity — the last of which would have resulted in Clancy being committed to a psychiatric facility.
The five-week trial was televised and featured testimony from more than 80 witnesses. It drew widespread attention across the United States and prompted public debate about maternal mental health and the legal standards applied to defendants with postpartum psychiatric conditions.
Under Massachusetts law, a unanimous verdict from all 12 jurors is required for a conviction or acquittal. The prosecution will now decide whether to retry the case.
Source: TheJournal.ie