Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial on Friday in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, a 36-year-old Massachusetts mother accused of killing her three young children in 2023. The decision followed a weeks-long trial and seven days of deliberations over the strangling deaths of the children. The case has drawn national attention to maternal mental health issues and postpartum psychosis, which the defense argues Clancy was suffering from at the time of the tragedy.
The 12-person jury, comprising nine women and three men, spent more than 38 hours deliberating but were unable to reach a unanimous decision. The jury sent three notes to the judge stating they were deadlocked. In one disclosure, the foreperson informed the court that a single juror would not follow instructions regarding reasonable doubt, revealing the jury was split 11 to one.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington requested an hour to file an emergency appeal to the Massachusetts highest court, arguing that the holdout juror's position was intractable regardless of the proof provided. However, the judge ultimately declared the mistrial. The case now returns to the status it held before the trial began, leaving prosecutors to decide whether to try the case again.