Jury deadlocked again in Lindsay Clancy murder trial, judge issues Tuey-Rodriguez charge
A Massachusetts jury remains deadlocked in the trial of Lindsay Clancy for the deaths of her three children, prompting Judge William Sullivan to give a special Tuey-Rodriguez instruction and warning of a possible mistrial.
Jurors in the trial of Massachusetts mother Lindsay Clancy reported a second deadlock on September 2, extending deliberations into a sixth day. Clancy, 36, faces three murder counts for the January 2023 strangulation deaths of her children, ages five, three and eight months, and has pleaded not guilty.
Judge William Sullivan instructed the panel to continue deliberating and then delivered a Tuey-Rodriguez charge, a directive that asks jurors to reconsider their positions and "consider that it is desirable that the case be decided." > "You have been selected in the same manner, and from the same source, as any future jury would be," Sullivan said. "There is no reason to suppose that the case will ever be submitted to twelve persons who are more intelligent, more impartial, or more competent to decide it or that more or clearer evidence will be produced."
Legal scholar Daniel Medwed explained that the instruction is sometimes called a "dynamite instruction" because of its forceful language intended to break a stalemate. > "It really is designed to encourage the jury to take one last look at things and really try," Medwed said.
Prosecutors allege Clancy orchestrated the killings while her husband was away, then attempted suicide. Her attorney, Kevin Reddington, maintains that she cannot be held criminally responsible due to postpartum depression and psychosis, asserting an insanity defense. > "Tim Cruz will never drop it, that's for sure," Reddington told reporters, referring to Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz.
If the jury cannot reach a unanimous verdict, Sullivan will declare a mistrial, leaving prosecutors to decide whether to retry the case before a new jury. The trial has also been marked by a separate incident in which a woman was arrested for allegedly filming jurors outside the courthouse; she entered a not-guilty plea and awaits a pre-trial hearing.
The jury’s verdict options include not guilty, not guilty by lack of criminal responsibility, first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter. A conviction of first-degree murder would carry a mandatory life sentence, while a finding of not guilty by lack of criminal responsibility would likely result in continued mental health treatment at Tewksbury Hospital, where Clancy has been held since May 2023.