A mistrial was declared on Friday in the murder case of Lindsay Clancy, who was accused of killing her three children after jurors expressed that they were unable to conclude criminal responsibility.
Judge William Sullivan discharged the jury after seven days of deliberation, giving the defense one hour to file for a temporary restraining order to stop him from doing so. Defense lawyer Kevin Reddington had appealed to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, asking the court to order Sullivan to let the jury deliberate further.
After nearly 40 hours of deliberation, the jury sent a note saying that, with a heavy heart, it could not reach a unanimous decision.
Clancy, 36, a labor and delivery nurse, is still charged with murder and will continue to be in a psychiatric hospital as the prosecution decides the next step to take.
The deadlock lasted several days. On Tuesday, the panel, which consists of nine women and three men, first indicated a deadlock, with another note on Wednesday. Then, Judge Sullivan gave a powerful lecture urging the jury to give deliberation one last try, as a verdict would be desirable. Another note indicated that the jury was divided 11 to 1. According to Reddington, one juror would not heed the instructions on reasonable doubt, and the judge declined to strike the juror.
The murder charges brought against Clancy include three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and 8-month-old Callan. Second-degree murder and manslaughter charges were among those the jury had to take into consideration. Clancy does not deny that she had strangled her children in the basement of the family home in Duxbury in January 2023 because of postpartum psychosis.
Thereafter, Clancy jumped out of a second-floor window and became paralyzed. A conviction would have resulted in a life sentence in prison with no chance of parole. At the same time, the verdict of not being criminally responsible would land Clancy in a state mental institution. The trial lasted 22 days.
More than 80 witnesses and 300 exhibits were presented to the jury to help them decide. Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz must decide how the case should proceed. In the meantime, Clancy will be kept in custody at Tewksbury Hospital.
Another option for the prosecution is to offer a plea deal, according to Brad Bailey, a Boston defense lawyer and former prosecutor not associated with the case. Bailey stated that when the threat of a murder retrial hovers, the defense team always tries to negotiate.
Postpartum psychosis affects only one or two out of 1,000 women after giving birth, according to experts from the Cleveland Clinic. They call postpartum psychosis a mental health crisis that creates a distorted perception of reality.
The case gained international attention. While jurors were deliberating, Dawn Light, 56, a retired nurse, pleaded not guilty to one count of aggravated intimidation of a witness after prosecutors alleged that she filmed jurors.
