A Massachusetts jury deadlocked for the second time Wednesday in the Lindsay Clancy trial, telling the judge they cannot reach a unanimous verdict after nearly 30 hours of deliberations. Clancy, a Duxbury mother, admits strangling her three young children in January 2023 but claims postpartum psychosis left her not criminally responsible. Jurors return Thursday at 9 a.m.
“I know it’s been a long day,” Judge Sullivan said. The 12-person jury deliberated for just under 30 hours over five days. “After much deliberation, we are still unable to come to a unanimous decision,” jurors said in a note to Judge William Sullivan. Sullivan then delivered what is known in Massachusetts as the Tuey-Rodriguez charge, instructing the jurors to keep deliberating.
If she is found guilty, Clancy could face life in prison without parole. If found not criminally responsible for the three murder charges, she will be sent to a state mental health facility. Prosecutors argue she was legally sane and planned the killing deliberately.
If the jury remains deadlocked after Thursday's deliberations, Judge Sullivan could declare a mistrial. The Tuey-Rodriguez instruction delivered Wednesday is generally considered a last resort; if the panel of nine women and three men still cannot reach a unanimous verdict, the case would end without a decision. Prosecutors would then decide whether to retry Clancy on the three murder charges, a process that would require seating a new jury and presenting the lengthy case again. In the meantime, Clancy would remain in custody at Tewksbury State Hospital, where she has been held since 2023.
This is a developing story.
