Mistrial declared in Lindsay Clancy trial after hung jury
A mistrial declared Lindsay Clancy's Massachusetts murder trial incomplete Friday after jurors reported with a "heavy heart" that they could not reach a unanimous verdict. The Duxbury mother remains charged in her three children's 2023 deaths, and prosecutors have not yet said whether they will seek a retrial.
Key Takeaways
- Plymouth Superior Court Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial after the jury stayed deadlocked.
- Jurors wrote they were unable to reach a unanimous decision "with a heavy heart."
- Defense attorney Kevin Reddington blamed a holdout juror and said the panel was "robbed."
- District Attorney Timothy Cruz has not decided whether to retry the case.
- A status hearing is scheduled for September 29, 2026.
What happened in the Lindsay Clancy mistrial?
After roughly a week of deliberations—and repeated reports that they were stuck—jurors told the court they could not agree. According to Reuters, Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial on Friday in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
The jury's note said, "It is with a heavy heart that we report we are unable to come to a unanimous decision, and we will not be able to." The mistrial is neither a conviction nor an acquittal.
Clancy, 36, was charged with first-degree murder in the January 2023 strangling deaths of Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months, at the family's Duxbury home. Follow more cases in our True Crime & Unsolved Mysteries coverage.
Why couldn't the jury reach a verdict?
The dispute was not over whether Clancy killed her children—that was not contested—but whether she was criminally responsible. Her defense argued she was experiencing postpartum psychosis and should be found not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility.
Late in deliberations, the foreperson signaled that a lone juror was blocking unanimity. Reddington sought to remove the alleged holdout, arguing the juror acknowledged doubt but would not apply the court's reasonable-doubt instructions. Sullivan refused, and Massachusetts' highest court denied an emergency defense appeal seeking further inquiry.
What did Kevin Reddington say after the mistrial?
Speaking outside court, Reddington framed the outcome as a loss forced by one panelist. He said the other jurors "know that they were robbed, by one man, for whatever his agenda was, who stole seven weeks of the lives of these other jurors."
Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said children were murdered and it is prosecutors' job to seek justice. His office had not decided Friday whether to pursue a retrial. Clancy remains in custody at a state hospital and is due back in court on September 29.
Will Lindsay Clancy face a second trial?
A hung-jury mistrial generally leaves the charges pending, so prosecutors may retry the case without a double-jeopardy bar based on a deadlocked verdict alone. Cruz said a decision would come soon, but not the same day. Until then, Clancy has been neither cleared nor convicted.