Lindsay Clancy’s defense attorney says his client was “robbed” of a full acquittal after a single holdout juror caused a mistrial.
Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial ended in a mistrial after over 36 hours of deliberation spread across seven days.
Judge William Sullivan declared the mistrial after the jury submitted a note saying it was, with a “heavy heart,” unable to reach a unanimous decision.
Clancy, 36, was on trial for the January 2023 strangulation deaths of her three children: Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and 8-month-old Callan. After, she attempted to take her own life by jumping from a second-story window at the family’s Duxbury home, which left her permanently paralyzed.
She has never denied killing her children, but has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility, her defense arguing she was experiencing acute postpartum psychosis and along with severe overmedication at the time.
Reddington places blame on single juror
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington said 11 of the 12 jurors had voted to acquit Clancy, when he spoke outside Plymouth Superior Court on Friday. As such, he placed full blame for the mistrial on a single male juror who allegedly wouldn’t apply the legal standard of reasonable doubt.
“Clancy was robbed by this man,” Reddington told a reporter and pointed out how the other jurors knew they’d been robbed by this one person, whatever his reasoning, after seven weeks of attentive service.
Tensions inside the jury room reportedly came to a head on Thursday, when the jury foreperson sent a note to Judge Sullivan stating that one juror had acknowledged doubt but refused to apply it to the verdict as legally required.
Reddington filed emergency motions to have the juror removed, arguing bias against serious mental illness. Judge Sullivan declined, though, saying the court couldn’t interfere in jury deliberations.
What will happen next?
Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz has not yet said whether prosecutors will pursue a retrial.
Reddington didn’t spare words when asked what he thinks the outcome would be if they do.
“If I was [Cruz], I would probably say I don’t think I want to do a retrial because he’s going to lose,” he said, calling his client’s situation a complete tragedy and adding that his “heart breaks” for her.
Clancy remains in custody at Tewksbury State Hospital, with a status hearing scheduled for September 29.
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