Jury deadlocked 11-1 in Lindsay Clancy murder trial; judge declares mistrial on September 4

A jury in the trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother charged with killing her three young children in 2023, could not reach a unanimous verdict after seven days of deliberation. Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial on Friday, September 4, after the jury reported through its foreperson that one juror refused to join the other 11, making it impossible to reach the unanimous agreement required for conviction or acquittal under U.S. law.

The jury's note to the court read: "It is with a heavy heart that we report we are unable to come to a unanimous decision, and we will not be able to." The split was 11-1, with the sole holdout preventing closure on charges that Clancy strangled her 5-year-old daughter Cora, 3-year-old son Dawson, and 8-month-old son Callan in the family's home in Duxbury, Massachusetts.

Clancy, age 36 and a former labor and delivery nurse, does not deny killing the children but pleaded not guilty, arguing she cannot be held criminally liable because she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis at the time. The defense presented forensic psychologist Paul Zeizel, who testified that Clancy heard a male voice ordering her to kill her children and herself. The prosecution called forensic psychologist Kirk Heilbrun, who said it would be "very, very unusual" for someone with psychosis to hear a voice only once, as Clancy's defense claimed. After killing the children, Clancy cut herself with a knife and jumped from a second-story window in an attempted suicide that left her paralyzed.

The trial lasted five weeks and included more than 80 witnesses. Under Massachusetts law, the key question was whether Clancy's mental state made her unable to tell right from wrong or unable to follow the law. On Wednesday, before the jury reported deadlock, Judge Sullivan read jurors the Tuey-Rodriguez instruction, or "dynamite charge," designed to encourage continued deliberation even after a stated deadlock. Sullivan told the jury: "There is no reason to suppose that the case will ever be submitted to six persons who are more intelligent, more impartial, or more competent to decide it than you are."

On Thursday, the jury's foreperson indicated to the judge that one holdout juror refused to follow the law on reasonable doubt. Clancy's attorney Kevin Reddington asked Judge Sullivan to dismiss that juror, but Sullivan denied the request, saying he could not side with "one juror or 11." Sullivan then reread his instruction on reasonable doubt and sent the jury back to continue deliberating. About an hour later, the jury reported they still could not reach a verdict.

Reddington filed an emergency appeal with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, asking the state's highest court to order the judge to force the jury to continue deliberating and to question the panel about the holdout juror's ability to follow the law. He also wrote that the holdout juror's "reasoning reflects a bias against those who suffer from debilitating mental illness." The state's high court denied the emergency appeal. Judge Sullivan then declared the mistrial.

District Attorney Tim Cruz said the case had "always been about getting justice for those three little babies," but declined to say whether his office would pursue a retrial. Reddington said of the prosecution: "If I was Tim Cruz, I would probably say I don't think I want to do a retrial because he's going to lose." Judge Sullivan scheduled a status hearing for September 29, at which prosecutors could outline their next steps. Clancy will remain in custody in a state hospital where she has been held for more than three years. Legal experts told PBS NewsHour they expect the prosecution will choose to go to trial again, though prosecutors could also offer a plea deal or drop the charges. Reddington said Clancy was "not good" following the mistrial declaration but would be ready for the possibility of a retrial.