Deadlocked Lindsay Clancy jury sent home on 5th day after rare instruction from judge
The jury in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial was sent home on the fifth day without a verdict. The judge issued a Tuey-Rodriguez charge, urging them to reach a unanimous decision. The jury will return Thursday morning to continue deliberations.
Lindsay Clancy's attorney says he's ready to retry the case 'next week' amid deadlock
Lindsay Clancy's defense attorney says he is ready to retry her murder case almost immediately if the jury's deadlock ends in a mistrial.
"I'd try it next week," Kevin Reddington told reporters outside court. "I have some motions to file. If they come back with a verdict, we'll see what it is. If they don't, I am ready to try it next week." He said the prosecution would "absolutely" pursue first-degree murder again.
Reddington said one reason he wants to move fast is that his lead expert, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Phillip Resnick, remains "alive, well, anxious, and more than willing to help us out again." He also said prosecutors would not get another chance to evaluate Clancy, arguing that after nearly four years, "she's got false memories in her head... there's no way they're getting the doctor anywhere near her."
The comments came as the jury of nine women and three men remained deadlocked. No mistrial has been declared, and jurors are set to continue deliberating.
Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Lindsay Clancy jury sent home still deadlocked after judge's new instruction
The jury in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial has been dismissed for the day and will return to continue deliberating, hours after the judge delivered an additional instruction aimed at breaking the deadlock.
Earlier Wednesday, the panel of nine women and three men again told Judge William Sullivan it could not reach a unanimous decision. Sullivan responded with a Tuey-Rodriguez charge, an instruction that urges deadlocked jurors to keep working toward a verdict while reminding them not to abandon their own honestly held views. Rather than declaring a mistrial, he allowed the jurors to go home for the day.
The jury is weighing whether Clancy was criminally responsible when she killed her three children, or whether, as the defense argues, she was in the grip of postpartum psychosis.
Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
What is a Tuey-Rodriguez charge?
The instruction that Judge William Sullivan gave to the Lindsay Clancy jury on Wednesday takes its name from two Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decisions.
In Commonwealth v. Tuey (1851), the court approved an instruction encouraging deadlocked jurors to re-examine their views with an open mind. More than a century later, in Commonwealth v. Rodriguez (1973), the state's highest court revised that language to remove pressure on minority or holdout jurors, creating a neutral instruction that asks all jurors to carefully consider one another's views while maintaining their own honestly held convictions.
Receiving a Tuey-Rodriguez charge does not mean a verdict is imminent. The instruction is generally considered a necessary step before a judge declares a mistrial because of a hung jury, although it often results in jurors reaching a unanimous verdict after further deliberations.
Read more about the Tuey-Rodriguez charge.
This is an excerpt from a story by Fox News Digital’s Brittany Miller and Adam Sabes.
Where the Clancy trial could be headed after jurors say they can't reach a decision a 2nd time
Criminal defense attorneys Josh Ritter and Donna Rotunno analyze the latest developments in Lindsay Clancy’s Massachusetts murder trial after the judge instructed jurors to continue deliberating after they said for a second time they could not reach a unanimous decision on ‘America Reports.’
Retired judge says Clancy jury's new instruction is 'a required step' before a mistrial
The judge in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial has delivered a Tuey-Rodriguez charge to the deadlocked jury, an instruction given as a last effort to encourage jurors to reach a verdict, and a step that can set the stage for a mistrial.
Under Massachusetts law, once a judge gives this instruction, he cannot force jurors to keep deliberating if they return and again say they are stuck. If that happens and the jurors do not agree to continue, the judge must declare a mistrial, and no verdict would be reached. The district attorney's office could then choose to retry the case.
Retired Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Thomas Drechsler told Fox News Digital the charge is "a required step" before a mistrial. "The reasoning is that it often works," he said. "It encourages the jurors to rethink their own feelings in light of what other jurors feel, reminds them that no one's ever going to be in a better position to decide this than them." But he added: "If they come back and say they're deadlocked again, I think there's a high likelihood that it will end up in a mistrial."
Drechsler said he would not be surprised if the panel went home for the day and returned Wednesday, or if the judge sent them back briefly "just to see if that shakes things loose."
Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Judge gives Lindsay Clancy jury a Tuey-Rodriguez charge after it again reports a deadlock
The judge in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial is delivering another instruction to the deadlocked jury, urging jurors to keep trying to reach a verdict, after the panel again said it was unable to come to a decision.
The instruction is known in Massachusetts as a Tuey-Rodriguez charge, sometimes called a "dynamite charge." It is given to a deadlocked jury to encourage continued deliberation, while reminding jurors to listen carefully to one another without surrendering their own honestly held convictions. Judge William Sullivan declined to give the instruction earlier in the week when jurors first reported difficulty agreeing, opting instead to simply send them back.
The panel of nine women and three men is weighing whether Clancy was criminally responsible when she killed her three children, or whether, as the defense argues, she was in the grip of postpartum psychosis.
Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Expert analyzes impact of Clancy trial on mental health care
Criminal defense attorney Donna Rotunno discusses the latest on the Lindsay Clancy trial during 'Outnumbered' as the jury continues deliberations for a fifth day.
Lindsay Clancy jury deliberates through a 5th day, no verdict before lunch break
The Lindsay Clancy murder trial has recessed for lunch until 2 p.m. ET, as the jury continues deliberating for a fifth day without a verdict.
A court officer announced the break, and Clancy's family left the courthouse. The panel of nine women and three men is weighing whether Clancy was criminally responsible when she killed her three children, or whether she was in the grip of postpartum psychosis.
Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Self-described 'crime junkie' accused of filming Lindsay Clancy jurors: what to know
The woman accused of filming jurors in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial has described herself as a "crime junkie" who had been closely following the case, telling CT Insider she was only trying to catch a glimpse of Clancy.
Dawn Light, 56, of Sutton, Massachusetts, is a retired registered nurse who records show held a Massachusetts nursing license from 1993 until it expired in 2022. Her attorney, Jennifer White, described her as an "upstanding citizen" with no criminal record who lives on a fixed income and has strong ties to the state.
Light had become a familiar face at the trial, occasionally waiting to get into the courtroom to watch the proceedings, and her husband, Paul Light, accompanied her to court for her arraignment.
Light was arrested Tuesday afternoon after Massachusetts State Police said she was sitting in her car in a restricted area of the courthouse parking lot, a spot with a view of the door jurors use to come and go, filming them as they left at the end of the fourth day of deliberations.
Jurors' identities are being kept secret under a court order. Police say that when they approached, Light denied recording anyone, but that a video found in her phone's deleted folder showed people a court officer identified as Clancy jurors. Light told police she was only trying to see Clancy and did not realize she had recorded jurors.
She was arraigned Wednesday in Plymouth District Court on a charge of aggravated intimidation of a witness and pleaded not guilty. A prosecutor argued her actions put "the sanctity of the judicial system at risk" and asked for $50,000 bail, but Judge Shelby M. Smith released her on personal recognizance, ordering her to stay away from the courthouse, have no contact with jurors or witnesses, and refrain from sharing any images.
"I just wanted to see Lindsay," Light told reporters afterward. "And I did see her. She was getting picked up by the van."
Her attorney called the episode "a complete misunderstanding."
Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Woman accused of filming Clancy jurors says 'there is no explanation'
The woman accused of filming jurors in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial spoke briefly to reporters outside the courthouse Wednesday after her arraignment, saying, "There is no explanation."
Dawn Light, 56, of Sutton, a retired registered nurse, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of intimidation stemming from allegations that she recorded Clancy jurors as they left the courthouse Tuesday. Prosecutors say a video recovered from her phone showed jurors leaving the building. Light told police she was only trying to see Clancy and did not know she had recorded jurors, and her attorney has called the incident a "complete misunderstanding."
A judge released Light without cash bail and ordered her to stay away from the courthouse and to have no contact with jurors or witnesses.
Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Lindsay Clancy's attorney says juror-filming arrest 'doesn't affect us at all'
Lindsay Clancy's defense attorney brushed off the arrest of a woman accused of filming jurors outside the courthouse, saying it has no bearing on the case, as the jury deliberates for a fifth day.
Asked how he reacted to the arrest, Kevin Reddington said, "I don't. It doesn't affect us at all."
He also weighed in on the jury reporting it could not reach a unanimous decision. "Let's see what they do today," he said. "They've been obviously incredibly hard working, and we'll see how it works out today."
Asked whether he had concerns about a possible second trial, Reddington said he did not. He declined to discuss his conversations with Clancy, saying, "Generally, I don't talk about what I talk to clients about." Asked if he expected a verdict Wednesday, he said, "I don't know. Hopefully."
Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Woman accused of filming Lindsay Clancy jurors outside courthouse, prosecutor says
The woman arrested outside the Lindsay Clancy trial was accused Wednesday of filming jurors in the courthouse parking lot, prosecutors said at her arraignment.
Prosecutor Nicole Pearson said Dawn Light, 56, was in her car filming, and that a video recovered by police from her phone's deleted folder showed Clancy jurors leaving the building. "She is filming jurors that are coming out of the building," Pearson said.
She faces one charge of intimidation of a witness, jurors, or person furnishing information in connection with criminal proceedings
Light insisted she was not filming jurors but trying to see if Clancy would emerge, her attorney said.
Light, a retired registered nurse of more than 25 years with no criminal record, was released without cash bail. Her attorney called it "a complete misunderstanding," saying she was only trying to photograph Clancy.
Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Judge issues pointed warning on conduct in Lindsay Clancy case
The judge in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial opened court Wednesday with a pointed warning that the rules governing conduct in the case are being enforced, a day after Massachusetts State Police announced an arrest outside the courthouse on a witness intimidation charge.
"I just want to remind everybody here and elsewhere that there's been an order that's been issued in regards to the conducting of this case, as well as statutes in this Commonwealth which relate to jurors, witnesses, attorneys and others," Judge William Sullivan told the courtroom. He said the order and statute "is being enforced and will be enforced," but declined to elaborate, saying he wanted to make the point "with no follow up or editorial comment."
Police said Dawn Light, 56, of Sutton, was arrested around 3:40 p.m. Tuesday outside the Plymouth courthouse and is expected to be arraigned on one charge of intimidation of a witness, juror or person furnishing information in a criminal proceeding. Sullivan did not reference that arrest or say what prompted his comment.
Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Lindsay Clancy jury deliberates a 5th day after more than 23 hours without a verdict
The jury in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial has been sent to deliberate for a fifth day, having already spent more than 23 hours weighing the case without a verdict.
Jurors were brought to a sidebar one by one and appeared to affirm something individually before the clerk. What was said could not be heard, as it took place at sidebar.
The panel of nine women and three men, which told the judge Tuesday it could not reach a unanimous decision, is deciding whether Clancy was criminally responsible when she killed her three children, or whether she was in the grip of postpartum psychosis.
Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Person charged with witness intimidation outside courthouse where Clancy jury is deliberating
A person was taken into custody outside the Plymouth courthouse Tuesday as the jury in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial deliberates, according to Massachusetts State Police.
Police said Dawn Light, 56, of Sutton, was arrested around 3:40 p.m. Sept. 1 and is expected to be arraigned Wednesday on one charge of intimidation of a witness, juror or person furnishing information in a criminal proceeding. No further information was released.
Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. She does not dispute killing them but says she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
Retired judge pushes back on hung-jury talk in Lindsay Clancy case, says verdict still possible
A retired Massachusetts Superior Court Judge pushed back on the notion that the Lindsay Clancy murder trial will end with a hung jury, saying a verdict is still possible despite Tuesday's deadlocked note from the jury.
Clancy, 36, faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children — Cora, Dawson and Callan, all under age 6 — who were found strangled at the family's home in January 2023.
Jurors went home Tuesday after more than 23 hours of deliberating over four days.
In a note sent to Judge William Sullivan on Tuesday, jurors said that "after many hours of deliberation, we are unable to come to a unanimous decision." He directed them to resume their work.
"I brought you back out because I know that this was a long trial. All right, I know there were over 80 witnesses. There were over 300 exhibits. Because of that, I'm going to ask you to go back out, keeping in mind all of the instructions that I gave you to go out and to continue your deliberations at this time. All right. And so, with that, I'm going to ask you to go back out. Like I said, keep in mind the instructions I gave you reviewing the evidence, and I'd ask you to resume your deliberations at this time," Sullivan said.
Retired Massachusetts Superior Judge Jack Lu told Fox News Digital that the deadlock note doesn't necessarily signal a mistrial is likely, and said a verdict is still possible.
"It is common for juries that eventually reach a verdict, especially in highly emotional cases, to initially report that they are deadlocked. So you could see a unanimous verdict later in this case," Lu said. "There should be no rush to judgment."
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