Lindsay Clancy Jury Enters Sixth Day of Deliberations After Second Deadlock

The jury weighing whether Lindsay Clancy was criminally responsible for the deaths of her three young children returned Thursday for a sixth day of deliberations after twice telling the judge it could not reach a unanimous verdict.

Plymouth Superior Court Judge William Sullivan has so far declined to declare a mistrial. Instead, he instructed the 12 jurors to continue deliberating after they reported a second impasse Wednesday.

Judge Urges Jurors to Keep Working Toward a Verdict

The jury has spent roughly 30 hours deliberating over five days. On Wednesday, jurors again informed Sullivan that they were unable to agree, prompting the judge to deliver a Massachusetts Tuey-Rodriguez instruction, sometimes described as a “dynamite charge.”

The instruction encourages jurors to reconsider their positions and carefully consider the views of other jurors while making clear that they should not surrender an honest conviction simply to produce a verdict.

The panel returned to court Thursday morning for another attempt at reaching a unanimous decision.

As of Thursday, no verdict and no mistrial had been declared.

What the Jury Must Decide

Clancy, 36, has acknowledged killing her three children — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months — at the family's Duxbury, Massachusetts, home on Jan. 24, 2023.

The central issue at trial has not been whether she caused the children's deaths. Instead, jurors must determine whether she was criminally responsible for her actions at the time.

Her defense argues that Clancy was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis and other serious mental-health problems that left her unable to understand the nature or wrongfulness of what she was doing. She subsequently attempted suicide by jumping from a window and survived with paralysis.

Prosecutors acknowledge that Clancy had significant mental-health problems but argue that she understood what she was doing, deliberately planned the killings and then attempted to take her own life.

The trial lasted roughly six weeks and included testimony from more than 80 witnesses and the presentation of about 300 exhibits.

A Mistrial Is Now a Real Possibility

If the jurors ultimately conclude they cannot reach a unanimous verdict, the judge could declare a mistrial because of a hung jury.

That would not mean Clancy had been acquitted. Prosecutors would then have to decide whether to seek a new trial, dismiss the charges or pursue another resolution such as a plea agreement.

The stakes are substantial. A conviction for first-degree murder could result in life imprisonment without parole. A finding that Clancy was not criminally responsible could instead lead to psychiatric commitment under Massachusetts law, depending on the required evaluations and court proceedings.

The jury can also consider lesser offenses, including second-degree murder and manslaughter.

The Viral Image Is Accurate — But Its Headline Needs Context

The graphic says “JUDGE MAKES CALL ABOUT DEADLOCKED JURY IN LINDSAY CLANCY TRIAL.”

That is broadly accurate in describing the judge's response to the deadlock, but it can give the impression that Sullivan has already made a final ruling about the fate of the case.

He has not declared a mistrial.

Instead, after the jury twice reported that it could not reach a unanimous verdict, Sullivan ordered the jurors to continue deliberating. The panel entered its sixth day Thursday, with the possibility of a mistrial becoming increasingly significant if the deadlock persists.

Bottom line

The Lindsay Clancy trial remains unresolved. The jury is still deliberating, and the immediate question is whether the 12 jurors can overcome their differences and reach a unanimous verdict — or whether their continued deadlock will eventually force the judge to end the trial without a verdict.

The latest reporting from Reuters, AP and CBS Boston confirms that there was no verdict or mistrial when the jury began its sixth day of deliberations on Sept. 3, 2026