Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial ended Friday, September 4, without a verdict, after her defense described an 11–1 split toward finding her not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility.
A mistrial ends the trial, not the case. It is neither a conviction nor an acquittal, and it does not automatically dismiss the charges. In Clancy’s case, the cause was a hung jury: jurors could not reach the unanimous decision required by Massachusetts law.
That requirement works both ways. All 12 jurors had to agree to convict her, and all 12 had to agree to acquit her. Eleven votes for acquittal are not an acquittal, just as one vote for conviction is not a conviction. Neither side had the agreement needed for a verdict.
The panel of nine women and three men deliberated for more than 38 hours over seven days before Judge William Sullivan declared the mistrial. In their final note, jurors said they were “unable to come to a unanimous decision” and would not be able to reach one.
Clancy did not dispute that she strangled her three children, Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months, in January 2023. She then attempted suicide, surviving with injuries that left her paralyzed. The central question was not whether she killed them, but whether she was criminally responsible when she did. Her lawyers argued that she was experiencing postpartum psychosis; prosecutors argued that she acted knowingly and deliberately.
Massachusetts law makes that a specific legal question, not simply a dispute over a diagnosis. A person lacks criminal responsibility when a mental disease or defect leaves them without substantial capacity either to appreciate the wrongfulness of their conduct or to conform their conduct to the law. Mental illness alone does not establish that defense, but total incapacity is not required, either.
Once the evidence raises the issue, prosecutors must prove criminal responsibility beyond a reasonable doubt. Clancy did not have to prove she was legally insane. Jurors who had a reasonable doubt about her criminal responsibility were required to vote not guilty on that basis. That differs from federal law, which requires defendants to prove an insanity defense by clear and convincing evidence.
That burden became the focus of the dispute inside the jury room. According to a note described in court, the foreperson said one juror had “acknowledged doubt but refuses to apply it.” Defense attorney Kevin Reddington argued that the juror was disregarding the judge’s instructions and should be removed. Sullivan declined. The accusation came from the jury foreperson; it was not an established finding of misconduct.
A judge cannot simply replace a juror because the other 11 disagree with that person. Massachusetts sharply restricts the removal of deliberating jurors, requiring grounds unrelated to their views of the case or their disagreements with fellow jurors. An 11–1 split, by itself, is not a reason to remove the holdout.
The judge also could not keep sending the jury back indefinitely. Massachusetts law says that when jurors return a second time without agreement after due and thorough deliberation, they cannot be sent out again without their consent unless they request further explanation of the law.
Clancy’s defense sought an emergency stay from a justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, seeking intervention over Sullivan’s handling of the holdout juror before the trial ended. The request was denied, and Sullivan declared the mistrial.
A retrial remains possible because a genuine jury deadlock generally does not trigger the double-jeopardy protection that an acquittal would. That remains true even when the defense objects to the mistrial. Prosecutors can ordinarily try the unresolved charges again before a new jury; they do not need the first jury’s permission or agreement.
Plymouth County prosecutors must now decide whether to pursue another trial, negotiate a plea agreement or drop the charges. Clancy remains at Tewksbury Hospital, and the court is scheduled to reconvene on September 29 to discuss next steps. That is a status hearing, not a scheduled retrial.
Even an eventual acquittal based on lack of criminal responsibility would not automatically mean immediate release: Massachusetts law allows psychiatric evaluation and possible court-ordered commitment afterward. But that is a separate question. Friday’s mistrial did not resolve her criminal responsibility. It left the charges undecided.
More reading: What Lindsay Clancy’s trial gave other women permission to say
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