Jurors in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial were dismissed Thursday without reaching a verdict and will return Friday to continue deliberations after twice reporting they were deadlocked, leaving the case approaching the possibility of a mistrial if the panel again says it cannot agree.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The jury deciding whether Lindsay Clancy was criminally responsible for killing her three children ended another day of deliberations Thursday without reaching a verdict and will return Friday as the closely watched murder trial moves deeper into an increasingly difficult deliberation.
The panel of nine women and three men has now twice informed Judge William Sullivan that it was deadlocked. Sullivan has repeatedly instructed jurors to continue deliberating and attempt to reach a unanimous decision.
If the jury again reports that it cannot reach agreement, the prolonged impasse could result in a mistrial.
Thursday ended without another deadlock report or verdict, and jurors were excused for the day with instructions to return Friday.
The deliberations followed a contentious courtroom dispute earlier Thursday over a report from the jury foreperson that one member of the panel was refusing to follow the judge’s instructions concerning reasonable doubt.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington asked Sullivan to remove the juror, arguing that the reported refusal to follow the court’s legal instructions threatened the integrity of the deliberations.
Reddington told the court that the foreperson had reported “there’s one juror who refuses to listen to the law” on reasonable doubt.
The defense attorney argued that Sullivan’s earlier response to the situation had not gone far enough and formally moved to have the juror removed.
“If we come back here in a half an hour with a mistrial because of a juror that has just spurned the instructions of this court, it’s a shame,” Reddington said.
Prosecutors opposed the request and argued that attempting to determine which juror was correct would improperly intrude into the secrecy of jury deliberations.
There is “no way to determine what the deliberations are, who’s correct, who’s incorrect, nor should we attempt to, because that’s part of deliberations,” prosecutors told the court.
They argued that Sullivan had already responded appropriately by asking jurors whether they could follow the law and reinstructing the panel on the reasonable-doubt standard.
Sullivan declined to remove the juror.
The judge described the discharge of a juror after deliberations have begun as “a sensitive undertaking” and said it would not be appropriate for the court “to side with one side or the other of the deliberations.”
Sullivan also noted that jurors had again affirmed that they were capable of following his instructions.
He overruled the defense objection and recessed the proceedings.
A tense scene subsequently unfolded at the defense table while deliberations continued. Reddington was seen gesturing with papers in his hand before walking over to speak directly with Clancy.
The developments came after jurors had already twice told the court that they were unable to reach agreement.
Sullivan responded to those earlier reports by urging the panel to continue its work rather than immediately declaring a mistrial.
Jurors are considering three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Clancy’s children, Cora, Dawson and Callan.
Clancy does not dispute that she killed the children.
The central question for the jury is whether she was criminally responsible for the killings or whether her mental condition prevented her from meeting the legal standard for criminal responsibility.
The defense maintains that Clancy was suffering from postpartum psychosis and was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of her actions or conform her behavior to the requirements of the law.
Jurors must decide whether prosecutors proved criminal responsibility despite that defense.
With the panel now having twice reported a deadlock, Thursday’s dispute over the juror and the absence of a verdict at the end of the day have intensified uncertainty over whether the case will ultimately produce a unanimous decision.
The jury is scheduled to return Friday and resume deliberations.
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