Judge Issues Ruling in Lindsay Clancy Murder Trial

A Massachusetts judge declared a mistrial Friday afternoon in the trial of Lindsay Clancy for the murder of her three young children after the jury, deadlocked at 11-1, failed to reach a verdict.

Plymouth Superior Court Judge William Sullivan initially gave the defense time to appeal the mistrial ruling, but the appeal was rejected. There will likely be another trial, and Sullivan set a hearing for Sept. 29.

A mistrial seemed likely all week, since the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. But Sullivan had pressed the jurors to make a decision.

“It is with a heavy heart that we report, we are unable to come to a unanimous decision and will not be able to,” Sullivan read from the jury’s note.

The defense argued that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and was not criminally responsible for her actions. Clancy said she heard a voice telling her to kill her children.

State prosecutors alleged she committed a premeditated murder and, despite mental illness, was aware of what she was doing.

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Prosecutors presented the jury with the options of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, or manslaughter.

Sullivan had pressed the jury to make a decision.

The jury is made up of nine women and three men.

Clancy used exercise bands to strangle her children, Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months, in the basement of her home. Afterward, she unsuccessfully attempted suicide by jumping from a second-story window, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down.