Judge declares mistrial in Lindsay Clancy case after jury deadlocks

A Massachusetts judge declared a mistrial Sept. 4 in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy after jurors reported they could not reach a unanimous verdict on whether the Massachusetts woman was criminally responsible for killing her three young children.

“I'm going to declare the jury is deadlocked, and I'm going to declare a mistrial,” Judge William Sullivan of Plymouth Superior Court said.

According to AP News, neither Clancy nor her relatives displayed any visible emotion as the judge announced that the trial would end without a resolution.

The formal declaration came after more than 38 hours of deliberations over seven days by a jury of nine women and three men. The jurors had heard 21 days of testimony from 85 witnesses before beginning deliberations Aug. 27. 

“It is with a heavy heart that we report we are unable to come to a unanimous decision and will not be able to,” the jury said in a note earlier Sept. 4.

Sullivan said he believed case law required him to declare a mistrial, adding that the jury “did not ask to be sent back.” The jury’s Sept. 4 note was its third of the week reporting an impasse.

Before Sullivan formally declared the mistrial, defense attorney Kevin Reddington obtained a one-hour delay to seek emergency relief from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. A single justice denied the request, allowing Sullivan to discharge the jurors, AP News reported.

The judge scheduled a Sept. 29 hearing to consider the next steps, including a possible retrial later this year. In the meantime, Clancy will remain held without bail at Tewksbury State Hospital.

Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said his office would meet before announcing in a court filing whether it would retry the case. Prosecutors could also dismiss the charges or pursue a plea agreement.

“This was and has always been about getting justice for those three little babies,” Cruz told reporters outside the courthouse, according to AP News.

“We’re here at this courthouse today because those children are not,” Cruz said, adding, “Children were murdered, and it’s our job to seek justice.”

Clancy, 36, a former labor and delivery nurse, faces three counts of first-degree murder in connection with the January 2023 deaths of her three children — 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan — at the family’s home in Duxbury, Massachusetts. 

Prosecutors allege she strangled them with exercise bands after sending her then-husband, Patrick Clancy, to pick up medicine for one of the children and dinner for the family. She then cut her wrists and neck and jumped from a second-story window in a suicide attempt that left her paralyzed from the waist down.

The defense, led by Reddington, did not dispute that Clancy killed the children but argued that postpartum psychosis left her unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of her actions. Prosecutors contended that Clancy planned the killings, acted intentionally, and understood that her actions were wrong. 

In early January 2023, Clancy checked herself into a psychiatric hospital for intensive treatment, but staff discharged her after a brief stay, according to AP News. She killed her children 19 days later and left their bodies in the basement of the family’s home. 

Prosecutors argued that while Clancy claimed to have heard a male voice commanding her to kill the children, she never disclosed hearing voices to her mental health providers before the killings.

Tensions rose in the courtroom during the final days of deliberations. A note from the jury foreperson alleged that one juror had “refused to listen” to the judge’s instructions on reasonable doubt and had acknowledged having doubt but appeared unwilling to apply it.

AP News reported that Reddington sought the juror’s removal, but Sullivan declined the request and ordered the panel to continue deliberating. Sullivan said the note did not establish that the juror had refused to follow the law, and each juror affirmed an ability to follow his instructions.

The case has drawn national attention and intensified debate over postpartum mental illness, criminal responsibility, and the public response to mothers who kill their children. Hundreds of women have rallied in support of Clancy, while others have argued that parts of American culture and the online movement surrounding the case have minimized violence against children.

Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, Reddington said Clancy was “like a daughter to me.” 

“My heart breaks,” he added, according to AP News. “She deserved an acquittal.”

The defense lawyer also criticized the lone juror whom he claimed had prevented the panel from reaching an acquittal. 

“They know they were robbed by one man, for whatever his agenda was, who stole seven weeks of the life of these other jurors that were so attentive, so beautiful, so wonderful,” he said, according to AP News. “You could see how defeated they were sitting there. I got a funny feeling they would have gone on for another week if they had to. So I hope that guy can sleep well at night.”

Cruz said in his Sept. 4 statement about seeking justice for the children, “This case is not about the healthcare system, or about how women are treated in it,” or about medical conditions’ diagnosis, according to AP News. “Those are all important issues,” he said. “They stir emotion. Sometimes they stir anger.”

“I understand that postpartum depression has impacted the lives of countless women and families, and I sympathize with their struggles,” he said. “The investigation in these heinous killings, however, did not establish that they were caused by such depression.”

>> Lindsay Clancy trial fuels national debate over postpartum illness, online culture of death <<

President Donald Trump said he watched coverage of the trial and called it a “terrible situation.” 

“Look, she did a horrible, horrible thing,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “Can’t be worse. But you’ll find out what the price to pay is. There’ll be a price — a mental institution or jail or something.”