Mistrial in Lindsay Clancy Trial After Jury Deadlocks 11-1

A Massachusetts judge declared a mistrial in Lindsay Clancy's triple-murder trial after a lone holdout juror left the jury deadlocked, leaving a possible retrial.

Plymouth County Superior Court Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial Friday in the triple-murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Duxbury mother charged with strangling her three children — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months — in January 2023. She remains held at a state psychiatric hospital.

The deadlock came down to one juror. Defense attorney Kevin Reddington said the jury was stuck 11-1, with a single male holdout refusing to join the other eleven in finding Clancy not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility. The foreperson told the judge the holdout acknowledged having doubt but refused to apply it "as the law states." Reddington asked the court to remove or question the juror, arguing he may have lied under oath, but Judge Sullivan kept him on the panel and re-instructed the jury on reasonable doubt.

In a dramatic final turn, Reddington won one hour from Sullivan to file an emergency appeal rather than let the mistrial stand. Associate attorney Dana Goldblatt argued before Supreme Judicial Court Associate Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt that the trial judge was required to investigate or remove the holdout, whose reasoning the defense said reflected bias against people with debilitating mental illness. Justice Wendlandt denied the stay, and Sullivan formally declared the mistrial. Reddington suggested the defense may pursue a double jeopardy argument on constitutional grounds, according to WBUR.

The defense argued Clancy suffered untreated postpartum psychosis — a rare psychiatric emergency — and was overmedicated despite repeated attempts to get help, including calling a suicide hotline. Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Prosecutors countered that she deliberately planned the killings, sending her husband out on errands and timing his trip, and argued her children were a "protective factor" against her suicide that she had to remove.

The livestreamed trial captivated the country and ignited debate over gaps in maternal mental healthcare. Hundreds of supporters, many women who said they saw their own struggles in Clancy's case, gathered outside the Plymouth courthouse in solidarity. WBUR reports that calls to the Postpartum Support International helpline in Massachusetts rose about 50 percent since the trial began, and prosecutors said their own attorneys endured threats and doxxing. President Trump publicly weighed in, telling reporters there would be "a price — a mental institution or jail or something."

Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz will decide whether to retry Clancy on first-degree murder, downgrade to lesser charges, seek a plea deal, or drop the case entirely — and he said no decision would be made Friday. A status conference is set for Sept. 29, where Reddington is expected to ask the court to declare Clancy not guilty, a rare but permitted step under Massachusetts law. Cruz, who called the case about "justice for those three little babies," said his office would not be swayed by public sentiment in deciding whether to try the case again.