The jury in the Lindsay Clancy triple murder trial has hit a major roadblock, and legal experts are now predicting the case could end in a mistrial. After 31 hours of deliberation spread across six days, the 12 jurors—nine women and three men—have sent two separate notes to the judge admitting they cannot reach a unanimous decision.
On Wednesday, Plymouth Judge William Sullivan read a rare “Tuey-Rodriguez” charge, a formal instruction urging the panel to keep trying. But according to Boston defense attorneys, if the jury sends a third impasse note, the judge may have no choice but to call it a mistrial.
“If they come back after Tuey is read and say we are hopelessly deadlocked, that usually is it,” veteran criminal defense lawyer Brad Bailey explained. Attorney Peter Elikann agreed, noting that at some point, pushing further becomes a “pointless exercise.”
The jury is weighing whether to find 36-year-old Clancy guilty of first-degree murder for the deaths of her three children—Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and 8-month-old Callan—on January 24, 2023. Her defense, led by Kevin Reddington, argues she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis and believed she was following a voice telling her to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 the children and herself.
Tension in the courtroom was palpable Wednesday when the second deadlock note was revealed. Reddington placed his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes, while Clancy sat beside him with furrowed brows. As the jury went home for the day, Clancy let out a heavy sigh.
Supporters have sent hundreds of letters to Clancy, and a crate of them was shown to reporters outside court. But the legal path forward remains uncertain. If the jury returns a third time saying they’re stuck, the judge may have no option but to declare a mistrial—leaving everyone wondering: what happens next?
