Jurors in the Lindsay Clancy trial told the judge they are at a standstill after more than 17 hours of deliberations.
“After many hours of deliberation, we are unable to come to a unanimous decision,” the note from jurors said, and Judge William Sullivan read it aloud to the courtroom.
The judge told jurors he understood it was a long trial with more than 80 witnesses and 300 exhibits.
“Because of that, I am going to ask you to go back out, keeping in mind all the instructions I gave you, to go out and continue your deliberations at this time,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan chose nine women and three men to serve as deliberating jurors.
Deliberations began on Thursday afternoon after closing arguments. Jurors have spent more than 17 hours discussing the case.
Clancy, 36, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the strangling deaths of her children: Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months old. Prosecutors say she deliberately planned the killings, while Clancy’s defense claims she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and is not criminally responsible for their deaths.
Jurors have the option of convicting Clancy of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, or manslaughter in the deaths of each child. They can also acquit her or find her not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility.
Under state law, when a person is found not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility, they are committed to a mental health facility. That happens in one of two ways: either because a judge ordered them detained there, or because, within 60 days of the verdict, the district attorney’s office or another authority asked a judge to commit them.
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Luis Fieldman; masslive.com; (TNS) || ©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit masslive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
