Lindsay Clancy murder trial ends in hung jury, defense demands stay of mistrial declaration

( NewsNation ) – The judge in the Lindsay Clancy murder case announced Friday that he was declaring a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict. However, when defense attorney Kevin Reddington requested an immediate stay of the declaration, the judge gave the defense one hour to appeal.

The jury, composed of nine women and three men, had deliberated for seven days after five weeks of testimony. The jury told the judge by note Friday, “It is with a heavy heart we are still unable to come to a decision and will not be able to.”

In the case of a mistrial, prosecutors have the option of retrying in front of a different jury in a new trial, but they aren’t required to do so. Prosecutors can decide whether to try Clancy again, pursue a plea deal or drop the charges.

The jury informed the judge that they were deadlocked twice this week and were sent back to continue deliberations each time.

Earlier Friday, Judge William Sullivan decided not to remove a holdout juror after Reddington said the juror should be booted for refusing to follow instructions on reasonable doubt, “whether they like it or not.”

He instead said the jury would again be reminded of their duties, stating he had read them the instructions on how to come to a decision beyond “reasonable doubt.”

Reddington called Sullivan’s reading of those jury instructions “soft,” and asked the judge to do it more “forcefully.”

“What do you want me to do? Get a brass band?” Sullivan said in the heated exchange.

In Thursday’s proceedings, a note was sent to Sullivan in the trial, indicating 11 of the 12 jurors had decided on a verdict, with only one juror holding out, according to Reddington.

On Wednesday, after two days in a deadlock, Judge Sullivan read jurors the Tuey-Rodriguez instruction, also known as a “ dynamite charge ,” a Massachusetts law that instructs jurors to assess their own views and those opposing without dismissing their own honestly held beliefs.

State law says a judge cannot send the jury back to deliberate a third time without their consent, unless they ask the court for further explanation of the law.

The jury has spent more than six days and over 35 hours deliberating. The prosecution argued Clancy knew what she was doing when she killed her three kids in 2023. The defense argued she was in the grip of postpartum psychosis and should not be held criminally responsible.