Newz(AP) — The deadlocked jury in the Lindsay Clancy trial on Thursday started a sixth day of trying to reach a verdict and avoid a mistrial after telling the judge twice that they can't agree whether the Massachusetts mother is criminally responsible for killing her three children.Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse, doesn’t deny strangling her children in the basement of their home in 2023. Her attorney argues that postpartum psychosis led to her actions, while prosecutors say she knew what she was doing when she killed Cora, Dawson and Callan Clancy, ages 5, 3 and 8 months.Just before jurors entered the courtroom Thursday with their eyes to the floor, Clancy took a deep breath at the defense table.Clancy’s livestreamed trial has generated intense interest, with reporters and spectators packing the courtroom. The case has also sparked deep public divisions over her culpability and the issues around maternal mental health after childbirth.___EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide.
If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.___Lindsay Clancy's reaction to the juryClancy stared at the jury with no expression on Wednesday as Judge William Sullivan explained to the courtroom that jurors were again at an impasse — a sign there’s a growing chance of a hung jury and the trial ending without a resolution.Sullivan told the jurors not to abandon their own convictions just to reach a verdict, but urged them to seriously consider opposing views and reassess their positions if appropriate.No one knows, he said, that another jury would be “more intelligent, more impartial or more competent to decide it than you are.”Lindsay Clancy could go on trial againIf the jury ultimately can’t agree on a verdict, the judge could declare a mistrial. Prosecutors would then have to decide whether to put Clancy on trial again, drop the charges or try to negotiate a plea deal with her lawyer.If the jury decides Clancy was criminally responsible for her actions, it could convict her of either murder or manslaughter.
If she is acquitted, a judge could still order her confined to a mental health facility if an evaluation determines that she poses a danger to the public.The evidence against Lindsay ClancyJurors have heard testimony from relatives and doctor… (AP) — Jurors in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial returned to the courthouse in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on Thursday for a sixth day of deliberation after twice saying they can’t agree whether the former labor and delivery nurse is criminally responsible for killing her three young children.If jurors ultimately cannot agree on a verdict, Judge William Sullivan could declare a mistrial.While both sides agree she killed her children, Clancy’s defense team argued she suffered from postpartum psychosis, with defense attorney Kevin Reddington stating that “lousy medical care” exacerbated her condition. Prosecutors at the Plymouth County District Attorney’s office argued she intentionally planned the killings and that the nation’s health care system was “not on trial here.”Postpartum psychosis is estimated to afflict 1 to 2 per 1,000 women after delivery.
Experts at the Cleveland Clinic describe it as a mental health emergency affecting someone’s sense of reality. It can happen to anyone after giving birth, but the chances are higher for people with certain mental health conditions. Though most people with postpartum psychosis don’t harm their children, mothers with severe cases may try to do so, and may also try to harm themselves.Here’s the latest:The jury hasn’t been able to agree on whether Clancy is criminally responsibleThe panel has been considering whether or not Clancy is guilty of murder, or lesser manslaughter charges, or not guilty due to mental disease or defect.A murder conviction could bring a life sentence.
They said no and then returned to the jury room.Jury begins its sixth day of deliberationsThe judge brought the 12 jurors and six alternates into the courtroom briefly before sending them back to the deliberation room.What happens if the jury cannot reach a verdict?If a verdict cannot be reached, a mistrial will be declared, and the case essentially goes back to the same status as before the trial, with Clancy charged with murder and held at a psychiatric hospital awaiting a resolution of the crimi… If jurors ultimately cannot agree on a verdict, the judge could declare a mistrial. While both sides agree she killed her children, Clancy’s defense team argued she suffered from postpartum psychosis, with defense attorney Kevin Reddington stating that “lousy medical care” exacerbated her condition.
Here’s the latest: Jury begins its sixth day of deliberations Judge William Sullivan brought the 12 jurors and six alternates into the courtroom briefly before sending them back to the deliberation room. What happens if the jury cannot reach a verdict? If a verdict cannot be reached, a mistrial will be declared, and the case essentially goes back to the same status as before the trial, with Clancy charged with murder and held at a psychiatric hospital awaiting a resolution of the criminal case.
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