- The deadlocked jury in the Lindsay Clancy trial was expected to keep trying to reach a verdict Thursday and avoid a mistrial after telling the judge twice that they can't agree whether the Massachusetts mother is criminally responsible for killing her three children.
- Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse, doesn't deny strangling her children in the basement of their home in 2023.
- Her attorney argues that postpartum psychosis led to her actions, while prosecutors say she knew what she was doing when she killed Cora, Dawson and Callan Clancy, ages 5, 3 and 8 months.
- Clancy stared at the jury with no expression as Judge William Sullivan explained to the courtroom that jurors were at an impasse — a sign there's a growing chance of a hung jury and the trial ending without a resolution.
- Sullivan told the jurors not to abandon their own convictions just to reach a verdict, but urged them to seriously consider opposing views and reassess their positions if appropriate.
- If the jury 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.
- Jurors have heard testimony from doctors about how Clancy's mental health declined in the months before the killings and how her treatment included several medications and a short stay in a psychiatric hospital.
- Medical experts hired by the prosecution and the defense reached sharply different conclusions about her psychiatric state when she killed the children.
- Clancy strangled the 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.
- The prosecution argues she deliberately sent her then-husband on errands to get him out of the house, and prosecutors have questioned the seriousness of her suicide attempt.
A deadlocked jury in the Lindsay Clancy trial is set to continue deliberations Thursday, facing a growing risk of mistrial after twice informing the judge they cannot agree on her criminal responsibility for the deaths of her three children. Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse, has admitted to strangling her children in 2023 but claims postpartum psychosis influenced her actions. Prosecutors contend she was aware of her actions when she killed Cora, Dawson, and Callan Clancy, aged 5, 3, and 8 months, respectively.3
Judge William Sullivan addressed the jury, noting their impasse and the potential for a hung jury, which would end the trial without a resolution. He urged jurors to reconsider their positions but not to abandon their convictions. Sullivan emphasized that no subsequent jury would be “more intelligent, more impartial or more competent” than them.
If the jury cannot reach a verdict, the judge may declare a mistrial, leaving prosecutors to decide whether to retry Clancy, drop the charges, or negotiate a plea deal. A conviction could lead to charges of murder or manslaughter, while an acquittal might still result in a judge confining her to a mental health facility if deemed a danger to the public.67
Clancy's trial has drawn significant media attention, with a packed courtroom for the livestreamed proceedings.
“Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, doesn't deny strangling her children, but her attorney argues postpartum psychosis drove her actions, while prosecutors say she knew what she was doing. If the jury can't agree, the judge could declare a mistrial, leaving prosecutors to decide whether to retry her or negotiate a plea.”
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