Defense says lone juror blocking verdict in Lindsay Clancy murder trial

The defense in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy told a Massachusetts court on Thursday that a single juror is blocking a verdict in the high-profile case. The trial, which has drawn national attention, concerns the deaths of Clancy’s three children and her claim that postpartum psychosis left her not criminally responsible.

Defense accuses holdout juror

Kevin Reddington, Clancy’s lead lawyer, told the court there is “one juror who refuses to listen to the law that you’ve given him or her on reasonable doubt.” He asked the judge to remove that juror from the 12-member panel.

Judge keeps jury intact, orders further deliberations

Judge William Sullivan declined to remove the juror and instead sent the jury back for a seventh day of deliberations on Friday. To reach a verdict in the case, all 12 jurors must agree. If they cannot, the judge will declare a mistrial and prosecutors must decide whether to retry the case with a new jury.

Background of the trial and charges

Clancy, 36, does not deny strangling her children Cora, five; Dawson, three; and Callan, eight months but has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, saying she heard a voice ordering her to kill them. Her lawyers say the voice and her actions were caused by postpartum psychosis.

The case has been the subject of a five-week televised trial that featured more than 80 witnesses. After the killings at her family home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in January 2023, Clancy jumped from a second‑story window in an apparent suicide attempt that left her paralysed from the waist down.

Possible verdicts and court steps

Jurors may return a range of verdicts: first-degree murder which carries a potential sentence of life in prison without parole second-degree murder, manslaughter, or a finding of not guilty by lack of criminal responsibility, which would result in Clancy being sent to a psychiatric facility.

On Wednesday, the judge gave jurors a so-called “dynamite charge” urging continued discussion to try to break the deadlock and avoid a mistrial.

What happens next

The jury will resume deliberations on Friday following the judge’s decision to keep the panel intact. If the jury remains deadlocked after further deliberations, the court may declare a mistrial and prosecutors will decide whether to pursue a retrial.