Today in court
• No verdict yet: The jury in the Lindsay Clancy trial has still not reached a verdict following a fifth day of deliberations. They will be back Thursday morning.
• “Dynamite charge”: Earlier, the jurors again told the judge they are deadlocked, further raising the possibility of a mistrial. The judge then read the Tuey-Rodriguez charge, a special, final instruction that asks them to consider the reasonableness of all opinions and to continue deliberating toward a verdict.
• About the case: The Massachusetts mother is accused of murder after strangling her three young children in 2023. Prosecutors have argued Clancy acted “intentionally, rationally, and swiftly” to kill her children, while the defense said she should not be held criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Our live coverage of Wednesday’s news from the Lindsay Clancy trial has concluded. Follow CNN’s live updates on Thursday’s deliberations here.
Still a deadlocked jury: What to know as Clancy case teeters on edge of mistrial
The jury is still deadlocked in the case of Lindsay Clancy, with jurors not able to come to a unanimous decision after nearly 30 hours of deliberations so far.
This afternoon, the judge formally instructed them to keep working to reach a verdict. But, that will be the last time the judge says that. If the jury says it can’t reach a verdict again, the judge will likely declare a mistrial.
Deliberations will continue tomorrow, the sixth day.
Here’s a recap of what happened today:
- This afternoon, the 12-person jury sent a note to the court: “After much deliberation we are still unable to come to a unanimous decision.” Jurors also sent a note saying they couldn’t come to a verdict yesterday morning.
- Most of the jurors were looking down as they walked into the courtroom. Several female jurors had their hands clasped in front of them.
- Judge William F. Sullivan read the Tuey-Rodriguez instructions to the jury. This special instruction is known as a “dynamite charge” and is nationally called an Allen Charge. The idea is to blow up any impasse to avoid a hung jury and mistrial.
- The instruction asks jurors to consider the reasonableness of their own opinions and others’ and states that it is “desirable that the case be decided.”
- Sullivan then instructed jurors to keep deliberating, which they did until they went home at about 4 p.m. ET. After the jury left the courtroom to continue deliberating, defense attorney Kevin Reddington stood next to Clancy, rubbing her shoulder as she leaned into his side.
- If the judge declares a mistrial, the prosecution will most likely state their intent to retry the case and Clancy would be returned to Tewksbury Hospital where she would continue being held without bail on her murder charges, CNN’s Jean Casarez explained.
- Earlier this morning, there was action happening outside the deliberation room. Dawn Light, a 56-year-old retired nurse, pleaded not guilty to one count of aggravated intimidation of a witness, jurors, and others. She was arrested yesterday after prosecutors accused her of filming jurors as they exited the courthouse.
CNN’s Amanda Musa, Eric Levenson, Rebekah Riess, Nicki Brown, Kara Scannell, Jeff Winter and Sarah Boxer contributed reporting.
Clancy's attorney says he's "very proud" of the jury
Lindsay Clancy’s attorney Kevin Reddington told reporters he’s “very proud” of the jury.
“They’re working so hard,” he said. “It’s a tribute to the system. They’re amazing … And whatever happens with the case, nobody can say that they haven’t given it their all.”
Reddington added he “wouldn’t be surprised if they came back with a verdict, if they said that they wanted to continue or they want to stop.”
If there’s a mistrial, Reddington said he would “try it next week.”
Clancy was “upset” and “sad” today, Reddington said, adding he does his best to talk to her to “keep her mind occupied.”
Jurors have deliberated for nearly 30 hours. Here's how that compares to other cases
Jurors in Lindsay Clancy’s triple-murder trial have now been deliberating for just under 30 hours, and it’s unclear how many more will go by before they deliver a verdict or say for the final time that they are deadlocked.
Reaching a verdict can often be a painstaking process for a jury.
Parts of Clancy’s case have echoed that of Andrea Yates, the Texas mother who drowned her five children in a bathtub in 2001. A jury deliberated for about 13 hours over three days before acquitting Yates of capital murder due to insanity. A jury had previously found Yates guilty of capital murder before the decision was thrown out due to the erroneous testimony of a prosecution medical expert.
More recently, the trial of Karen Read, who was charged with second-degree murder in the death of her police officer boyfriend, captured the attention of Boston’s suburbs and beyond, with crowds of supporters clad in pink supporting the defendant – not unlike those who stood in support of Clancy last month. A jury deliberated for about 21 hours over four days before acquitting Read. That came after jurors in Read’s first trial failed to reach a unanimous verdict after days of deliberation, forcing a mistrial.
A timeline of Lindsay Clancy's case
Here’s a look at some of the key events and dates in the Lindsay Clancy case:
May 2022: Clancy, a labor and delivery nurse, gives birth to her third child Callan. She lives in Duxbury with her husband Patrick and their two other young children Cora and Dawson.
September 2022: Clancy meets over telehealth with a psychiatrist, Dr. Jennifer Tufts, to address her anxiety, depression and insomnia. Clancy is prescribed about a dozen medications and meets with several other providers over the following four months as her mental health declines.
December 31, 2022: Clancy is admitted to McLean Hospital, a psychiatric facility, after reporting thoughts of suicide and intrusive thoughts of hurting the kids. She is released after five days to attend her daughter’s birthday party.
January 23, 2023: Clancy tells Dr. Tufts she is “doing all right,” denies any suicidal or homicidal ideation and shows no signs of psychosis, according to Tufts.
January 24: Clancy sends her husband Patrick out of the house on errands. While he is gone, she fatally strangles her three children with exercise bands, cuts her own wrists and neck and jumps out of a second-floor window, according to trial testimony. Patrick comes home to the scene and calls 911.
January 26: Clancy, partially paralyzed and unable to speak, writes on a piece of paper she is “horrified” and asks for an attorney, according to a hospital psychiatrist.
Late January and early February: Clancy tells her husband and a hospital chaplain she heard a persistent male voice directing her to kill her children and herself.
February 7, 2023: From her hospital bed, Clancy is arraigned on murder charges and pleads not guilty.
October 2024: Patrick Clancy opens up to The New Yorker about the killings and expresses empathy for his wife. “I wasn’t married to a monster – I was married to someone who got sick,” he said.
January 2026: Lindsay Clancy files a civil lawsuit against her medical providers in which she says she strangled her children after hearing a voice in her head. “I lost all control. My body started acting without any control on my part,” she wrote in the suit.
July 20, 2026: Clancy’s murder trial begins with jury selection in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
July 26: Prosecutors and the defense make their opening statements, and Patrick Clancy testifies as the trial’s first witness.
August 17: The prosecution rests its case after calling over 70 witnesses, including Clancy’s family and friends, first-responders, investigators and medical providers.
August 21: Clancy’s defense rests its case after calling 10 witnesses, including psychiatric experts who said Clancy suffered from postpartum psychosis.
August 26: The prosecution rests its rebuttal case after calling three mental health experts who said Clancy was not psychotic at the time of the killings.
August 27: Prosecutors and the defense present closing arguments, and the jury begins deliberations.
September 1: On its fourth day of deliberations, the jury reports it is “unable to come to a unanimous decision.” The judge directs the jury to continue deliberating.
Jury appeared solemn and weary at the end of fifth day of deliberations
The 12-person jury, comprised of nine women and three men, appeared weary and solemn before being dismissed this afternoon – ending a fifth day of deliberations without reaching a verdict.
A few jurors stared blankly ahead while others faintly nodded as state Judge William Sullivan told them to return to court tomorrow morning to continue discussions.
One female juror was seen pursing her lips. Another was standing with her hands clasped in front of her. Two jurors kept glancing into the gallery.
Jury sent home for the day, will return Thursday
The jury in Lindsay Clancy’s trial was sent home for the day at about 4 p.m. Wednesday and will return Thursday morning at 9 a.m. to continue deliberations.
“I know it’s been a long day,” Judge William F. Sullivan said.
The 12-person jury has deliberated for just under 30 hours over five days.
Court is back in session
After the jury spent more time deliberating, court is back in session.
Clancy's case would likely be retried if there's a mistrial, former prosecutor says
If the jury in the Lindsay Clancy case can’t come to a unanimous decision, and instead the deliberations end in a mistrial, some legal experts believe Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz would retry Clancy’s case.
“I think this case is so polarizing and so political that he’s going to retry this case no matter what,” Mark Eiglarsh, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, told CNN today.
The Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office has not indicated whether Clancy would be retried if the case ends in a mistrial.
Jurors are now in the final stretch, says former state attorney
The jurors in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial, who again said they were deadlocked Wednesday, are now in the final stretch of deliberations after receiving a Tuey-Rodriguez charge from the judge, a former state attorney told CNN Wednesday.
“This is where it gets into the fourth quarter of the game here. If the jury doesn’t come to an agreement, this thing is going to be a mistrial,” Dave Aronberg, former state attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida, said on CNN News Central.
The Tuey-Rodriguez charge formally instructs the jurors to consider the reasonableness of their own opinions and others’ and to continue deliberating toward a verdict. If the jurors still cannot agree, Massachusetts state law holds that the judge cannot issue another Tuey-Rodriguez charge unless the jury consents to it, Aronberg said.
A judge who issues a Tuey-Rodriguez charge multiple times could risk being perceived as “strong-arming the jury,” he noted.
Aronberg said he believes the case will end with a hung jury, at which point prosecutors will need to decide whether to retry.
What is the Tuey-Rodriguez charge?
When a jury says it is hopelessly deadlocked, a judge may read aloud special instructions known as a “dynamite charge.” The idea is to blow up any impasse to avoid a hung jury and mistrial.
In Massachusetts, this is referred to as the Tuey-Rodriguez instructions and is known nationally as an Allen Charge. In Clancy’s trial, Judge William F. Sullivan read the Tuey-Rodriguez charge to the jury today.
The instruction asks jurors to consider the reasonableness of their own opinions and others’ and to continue deliberating toward a verdict.
“You should consider that it is desirable that the case be decided,” the instructions state.
Another case: In 2024, the judge overseeing Karen Read’s first murder trial read aloud the Tuey-Rodriguez instructions to a deadlocked jury. After deliberating further, that jury still could not come to a verdict, and the judge declared a mistrial.
What’s likely to happen to Lindsay Clancy if there's a mistrial
If the jury remains deadlocked and the judge declares a mistrial: What will happen to Lindsay Clancy?
If the judge declares a mistrial, the prosecution will most likely state their intent to retry the case and Clancy would be returned to Tewksbury Hospital where she would continue being held without bail on her murder charges, CNN’s Jean Casarez explained.
If the prosecution decides to retry the case, which Clancy’s attorney Kevin Reddington has indicated would be likely, Clancy would remain in custody until the next trial date, criminal defense attorney Elyse Hershon explained.
If the prosecution chooses not to retry the case, Clancy would be returned to the psychiatric facility until the Plymouth County District Attorney decides to drop the charges, at which point she would be released, Hershon said.
The scene inside the courtroom when jurors said they were again deadlocked
Lindsay Clancy, who is wearing a long-sleeve light blue shirt, spoke with attorney Kevin Reddington at the defense table shortly before the jury was brought in.
Clancy’s parents and sister sat in their usual spot in the second row of the gallery behind the defense table. Dr. Paul Zeizel, a psychologist who met with Clancy days after she killed her children and believed she was experiencing psychosis, sat next to her sister.
After the judge entered, he immediately called the parties to sidebar and handed Reddington a stack of papers, which he flipped through.
Most of the jurors were looking down as they walked into the courtroom. Several female jurors had their hands clasped in front of them.
After the jury exited to continue deliberating, Reddington stood next to Clancy, rubbing her shoulder as she leaned into his side.
Jury resumes deliberations after saying they are deadlocked
The jury in the Lindsay Clancy case now returns to deliberations, having again told the court they are deadlocked. Judge Sullivan instructed them to continue deliberating.
A copy of the Tuey-Rodriguez charge, the instruction that is given when a jury is stuck or deadlocked, will be brought into the deliberation room with them.
Judge reads Tuey-Rodriguez charge
Judge William F. Sullivan is reading the jury the Tuey-Rodriguez charge.
This is an instruction that is given when a jury is stuck or deadlocked — which this jury just indicated it still was.
This post has been updated with additional information.
Jury again says they are deadlocked in Lindsay Clancy’s trial
The jury in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial again said to the court they cannot come to a unanimous verdict, further raising the possibility of a mistrial.
The note said, “After much deliberation we are still unable to come to a unanimous decision.”
On Tuesday morning, the 12-person jury sent a note to the court saying they cannot come to a unanimous verdict, and the judge directed them to continue deliberations.
If the jury remains deadlocked, the judge may eventually choose to declare a mistrial, ending the trial without a clear resolution and raising the possibility of another trial down the road.
Jury has a question for the court
The jury sent a question to the court in Lindsay Clancy’s trial, the court confirmed.
The parties are heading back into court now.
Here's a look back at Patrick Clancy's testimony in the case
Patrick Clancy was the first witness called to testify in the triple-murder trial of his ex-wife, Lindsay Clancy. He spent two days testifying about Lindsay’s downward spiral that culminated in the deaths of their three children.
Lindsay was a “very dedicated” mother who did everything for their kids, Patrick testified.
But Lindsay was grappling with stress, anxiety and other mental health issues that developed in the aftermath of childbirth, according to her ex-husband – problems that grew as she prepared to return to work after their third child was born in May 2022. “She just had a really hard time being separated from them,” Patrick testified.
From September 2022 to January 2023, Lindsay was prescribed numerous medications from several different doctors, “trying to get on the right medication,” he said.
Eventually, Lindsay “described thoughts of hurting the kids or them having some sort of ailment,” Patrick said, adding he wasn’t concerned for their safety because she didn’t show “any intention” of harming them.
The day of the killings, Patrick testified, Lindsay “was playing with the kids, and she seemed in a good mood.”
“She was having one of her best days,” he said.
That afternoon, he left the house to pick up medicine for their oldest child and a takeout order his wife had placed at a local restaurant. While at the pharmacy, Patrick said he called Lindsay but she didn’t answer. She returned his call about a minute later, he said, and the two had a brief conversation about the medication.
“She was pretty quiet. It sounded like she was busy,” her former husband testified. “I remember hanging up thinking she’s probably in the middle of giving baths, or something like that.”
When he arrived back home, he said the house was unusually quiet. The father said he called out to his family and began searching for them, looking in the children’s bedrooms and the bathroom. He then checked the second-floor bedroom he shared with his wife. “The door was locked,” Patrick Clancy said. “And that’s when I knew something was wrong.”
Patrick said he found Lindsay outside, lying face-up and bleeding in their backyard and called 911. When he asked where their children were, she told him they were in the basement, he testified. She did not mention they were injured or needed help, he said.
As first responders arrived and began tending to Lindsay, Patrick went to the basement, where he found their children. Responding officers heard screams coming from inside the home and ran into the basement. There they found Patrick, who looked up and screamed, “She killed the f**king kids!” a Duxbury police officer testified.
About a week after she fatally strangled their children, Lindsay called Patrick from a hospital, he said. “She didn’t talk about our kids, she talked about what she went through,” Patrick testified. “She said she heard a man’s voice telling her that if she didn’t do it now, she would lose her chance – or something like that.”
His former wife had never before mentioned hearing a man’s voice, he said.
Judge questioned jurors this morning after intimidation arrest
Judge William F. Sullivan questioned all 18 jurors individually this morning about their ability to be fair and impartial after the arrest of a woman accused of filming them, according to court records.
“The Court finds all Jurors are fair and impartial and may remain as Deliberating Jurors and Alternate Jurors,” the court records show.
The questioning, known as “voir dire,” came a day after Dawn Light, a 56-year-old retired nurse, was arrested after allegedly filming jurors as they exited the courthouse. She pleaded not guilty Wednesday to one count of aggravated intimidation of a witness, jurors, and others, as her attorney called the incident a “complete misunderstanding.”
CNN reporters in court observed Sullivan speaking to each juror on Wednesday morning but could not hear the discussions.
The jury has been deliberating for about 27 hours
The jury in Lindsay Clancy’s triple-murder trial has now deliberated for about 27 hours over the course of five days.
The jury on Tuesday told the judge they were deadlocked, before they were instructed to continue deliberating.
