Judge declares mistrial in Lindsay Clancy triple homicide case

Judge William Sullivan on Friday said he planned to declare a mistrial in the high-profile Lindsay Clancy murder trial, after a days-long deadlock within the jury. The 36-year-old mother pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murder charges for strangling her three young children to death in January 2023. Her legal team has argued that she suffered from postpartum psychosis despite repeatedly seeking medical help. The high-profile trial began over a month ago to determine Clancy’s legally responsibility for killing her children. The jury deliberated every day this week after both sides delivered closing arguments last Friday.

What caused the mistrial? Deliberations reached a deadlock halfway through the week after a single juror remained in disagreement with the 11 others. Judge Sullivan repeated his instructions for the jury to acquit the defendant if any reasonable doubt appeared in the case, as prosecutors bore the burden of proving her guilty. The jury’s leader communicated to the Judge on Thursday that a single juror would not follow the court’s instructions about reasonable doubt.

Clancy’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, petitioned for the court to remove the holdout juror for refusing to honor the judge’s instructions on reasonable doubt. The jury, composed of nine women and three men, drafted a note to Judge Sullivan on Friday stating they could not reach a unanimous verdict, prompting the judge to declare a mistrial. The judge gave Clancy’s team one hour to appeal the mistrial declaration.