A Massachusetts jury deadlocked after six days of deliberations in the trial of Lindsay Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse accused of murdering her three children, erupted in chaos Thursday afternoon when attorneys clashed over a juror who reportedly refused to follow court instructions.
Just before completing its sixth day of deliberations, the jury of nine women and three men faced an abrupt interruption as Judge William Sullivan entered into a heated sidebar with both sides’ attorneys. The discussion, which stretched past 10 minutes, saw defense attorney Kevin Reddington pointing his finger and receiving a document from the judge.
During the sidebar, Reddington expressed frustration about a juror he claimed had “refused to listen to the law that you have given him or her on reasonable doubt.” He told Sullivan: “If we come back here in a half-hour with a mistrial because of a juror that has just spurned the instructions of this court, it’s a shame — it’s a real shame.”
Sullivan acknowledged the issue but stressed that removing a juror from a deliberating jury is “a sensitive undertaking.” He stated: “I don’t feel it is proper for me to side with one side or the other of the deliberations.”
Clancy, who killed her three children—5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan—on January 24, 2023, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the strangulation deaths. The defense claims she was not criminally responsible due to postpartum psychosis and overmedication. Prosecutors argue she planned the killings and knew right from wrong.
With the jury scheduled for a critical review at 9 a.m. Friday, Reddington told reporters outside the courthouse: “There will be an inquiry by the judge tomorrow at 9 o’clock. There’s a person who has doubt but will not listen to the judge’s instructions.”
