Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial: Jurors Fail to Reach a Unanimous Verdict; What happens to the jury? | Today’s news
Jurors in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy told a Massachusetts judge on Tuesday (September 1) that they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether she should be convicted in the deaths of her three young children.
Judge William Sullivan, presiding over the court in Plymouth, Mass., ordered the jury to continue deliberating after receiving the memo. The hearing entered its fourth day on Tuesday after a trial that lasted nearly six weeks.
“After many hours of deliberation, we are unable to reach a unanimous decision,” the jury said in its memo, according to Sullivan.
The judge acknowledged the length of the trial, but ordered jurors to return to the deliberation room and continue deliberating the case, following instructions he had given them.
What is a jury?
A jury is considered deadlocked when jurors cannot reach the unanimous decision required for a verdict after lengthy deliberations.
But Tuesday’s memo doesn’t necessarily mean the jury is officially out.
In that case, Sullivan asked the jurors to continue deliberating. They could still reach a unanimous verdict and return to court with a decision.
If the jurors ended up deadlocked, the judge could declare a mistrial because of the jury. At that point, prosecutors could try to retry the case with a new jury rather than accept an acquittal.
A hung jury is different from a not guilty verdict. If Clancy were acquitted, prosecutors would generally not be able to try her again for the same crimes due to double jeopardy protections. However, misconduct caused by a truly deadlocked jury may allow for a new trial.
What is Lindsay Clancy accused of?
Clancy, 36, is accused of killing her three children — 5-year-old Cory, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan — at the family’s Duxbury home on Jan. 24, 2023.
There is no dispute that the children died after being strangled by exercise bands in the home’s basement.
Clancy subsequently cut herself and jumped from a second-story window in an apparent suicide attempt. She survived but was left paralyzed.
Her defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, argued that Clancy was experiencing postpartum psychosis when she killed the children. He asked jurors to find her not guilty by reason of insanity.
Witnesses testified that Clancy later said she heard a male voice telling her that if she did not act, she would lose her chance. Reddington claimed this was evidence of a psychotic episode she was experiencing at the time.
What did the prosecutors argue
Prosecutors focused on events immediately before the murders, including evidence that Clancy sent her then-husband, Patrick Clancy, to pick up a food order and visit a pharmacy.
Prosecutors highlighted evidence that she had mapped out the time she would return home.
When Patrick returned, he found an injured Clancy in the backyard. He then went to the basement and discovered the children with exercise bands around their necks.
Clancy faces life in prison without parole if convicted of first-degree murder. If found not guilty by reason of insanity, she would instead be committed to a state mental hospital for evaluation.
