Jurors in the Lindsay Clancy trial went home without a verdict on Wednesday (September 2), following a fifth day of deliberations. Twice, the jury said they couldn’t agree whether the Massachusetts mother is criminally responsible for killing her three young children.
RELATED: Massachusetts Mother Posted About Postpartum Depression Before Reportedly Killing Her Kids
Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse, doesn’t deny strangling her three children in their home in 2023. But her attorney argues that postpartum psychosis led to her actions, while prosecutors say she knew what she was doing.
Before The Lindsay Clancy Jury Went Home & What Happens Next
As reported by The Associated Press, Judge William Sullivan told the jury to keep deliberating on Wednesday when they said for a second straight day that they couldn’t agree on a verdict. Clancy, meanwhile, stared at the jury without expression as Judge Sullivan informed the courtroom that the jurors were at an impasse. Sullivan told the jurors not to abandon their own convictions just to reach a verdict. Instead, he urged them to seriously consider opposing views and, if appropriate, reassess their positions.
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No one knows, the judge said, that another jury would be “more intelligent, more impartial or more competent to decide it than you are.”
Afterward, Judge Sullivan sent them back out. The jury first said they were struggling to reach a unanimous decision Tuesday morning. They had resumed deliberations Wednesday after the judge questioned jurors one by one following the arrest of a woman on Tuesday who was accused of filming them as they left the courthouse. Judge Sullivan opened Wednesday’s proceedings with a warning to the courtroom about following his orders against filming, following, contacting, or tampering with jurors. Lindsay Clancy’s lawyer told The Associated Press that the judge called jurors up one by one to ask them if there was anything they saw that would affect their ability to be impartial.
This continued impasse indicates there’s a growing chance of a hung jury and the trial ending without a resolution. That said, the jury will return again on Thursday for a sixth day of deliberations.
Mental Health Has Been A MAJOR Focus In The Trial
Lindsay Clancy’s livestreamed trial has generated intense interest, with reporters and spectators packing the courtroom. The case has also sparked deep public divisions over her culpability and the issues around maternal mental health after childbirth.
Jurors have heard testimony from relatives and doctors about how Clancy’s mental health declined in the months before the killings. Also, they’ve heard how her treatment included several medications and a short stay in a psychiatric hospital. However, medical experts hired by the prosecution and the defense reached sharply different conclusions about her psychiatric state when she killed Cora, Dawson and Callan Clancy, ages 5, 3 and 8 months.
What Happens If There’s A Mistrial?
If jurors 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.
After court ended Tuesday, Clancy’s attorney said it was a good sign that the jury kept working.
“The fact that they have not said that they’re done is very, very heartening,” Kevin Reddington said. “Obviously, they’re working very hard.”
What To Know About The Day Lindsay Clancy Killed Her 3 Kids
Lindsay Clancy strangled her three children with exercise bands in their home’s basement, then jumped from a second-floor window. She remains paralyzed from the waist down. Her lawyers say she heard a voice telling her to kill the children so she could end her own life. Additionally, they’ve argued the mother had bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness that can follow childbirth.
But, the prosecution argues she deliberately sent her then-husband on errands to get him out of the house that day. Also, prosecutors have questioned the seriousness of her suicide attempt.
Lindsay’s husband, Patrick Clancy, has said in interviews that he forgives his ex-wife, whom he views as ill rather than evil.
Associated Press writers Michael Casey and Dave Collins contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
