Lindsay Clancy’s case looks set to end in a mistrial after jurors returned on the fifth day of deliberations to the judge, saying they cannot reach a unanimous decision. Deliberations are expected to continue into Thursday, with jurors being given a ‘dynamite instruction’.

The jury was sent home Wednesday at 4 p.m. and asked to rethink their positions on the case under court rules. If jurors are unable to reach a verdict, Judge William Sullivan will be forced to declare a mistrial and leave it to the state prosecutors on whether they intend to retry the mother accused of killing her three children in their Massachusetts home on January 24, 2023.

Lindsay Clancy’s Defense Argument

Lindsay Clancy, 36, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children–Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8-months–who were strangled with exercise bands in the basement of their childhood home. The defense argues that Clancy was suffering from postpartum psychosis and had no control over her actions; therefore, she should not be held criminally liable. 

However, prosecutors argue that she deliberately and premeditatedly murdered her three young children. They claim that Clancy was exhausted and no longer wanted to care for them, so she killed them and faked her suicide attempt, which left her paralyzed from the waist down.

Clancy has been held for treatment at Tewksbury Hospital in Tewksbury, Massachusetts since May 2023. If she is found not criminally liable, she will either stay for court-ordered mental health treatment or be transferred to another facility.

Jury Deliberations Continue

After a six-week trial with more than 80 witnesses, a group of nine women and three men began deliberations on August 27, 2026, and entered their sixth day. On September 1, the jurors returned to Sullivan, telling him they could not reach a unanimous verdict. They were urged to continue and did so until leaving early for the day.

On Wednesday, September 2, the jurors deliberated until 2:30 p.m. and returned to Sullivan for a second time, saying they would not reach a unanimous verdict. The judge responded with what is known as a Tuey Rodriguez charge, similar to an Allen charge. It is a special set of instructions to the jurors for them to rethink their position: “consider that it is desirable that the case be decided.”

“You have been selected in the same manner, and from the same source, as any future jury would be,” Sullivan said. “There is no reason to suppose that the case will ever be submitted to twelve persons who are more intelligent, more impartial, or more competent to decide it or that more or clearer evidence will be produced.“

A professor of law and criminal justice at Northeastern University spoke with USA TODAY, explaining the judge’s special instructions to readers. Daniel Medwed said it is sometimes called a “dynamite instruction” because it is intended to break a deadlocked jury.

“It really is designed to encourage the jury to take one last look at things and really try,” Medwed said.

Headed Towards a Mistrial

If the jury returns again after being instructed to try a third time and reach a conclusion in the best interest of everyone involved, and says they cannot agree, the judge will declare a mistrial. Prosecutors will have to decide whether to retry Clancy before a new jury, but it may be difficult to find one impartial.

Kevin Reddington, Clancy’s attorney, told reporters he expects prosecutors to bring back the charges in the case of a mistrial, noting that Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz will not let the charges go. “Tim Cruz will never drop it, that’s for sure,” Reddington said.

Clancy’s trial is looking like Karen Read’s first trial, as in the hung jury will lead to a mistrial. Read was accused of running over her Boston police officer boyfriend while under the influence and fleeing the scene. In her first trial, the jury remained deadlocked, even after being given the Tuey-Rodrigues instruction, and the judge declared a mistrial in July 2024.

The Massachusetts prosecutors sought to retry Read, but the outcome was slightly different. She was acquitted of second-degree murder and leaving the crime scene in June 2025 after a new jury found her not guilty.

Member of The Public Arrested

On September 1 around 3:40 p.m., a woman was arrested for allegedly taking videos of the jurors outside the courthouse. Dawn Light, 56, is charged with intimidation of a witness, juror, or person furnishing information in connection with criminal proceedings.

Light was arraigned the following day, and the prosecutor said state police standing by as security for Clancy’s trial received a report about a person in a restricted area. They came across Light in her vehicle in the parking lot, but she denied taking any photos. However, officers found a video of jurors exiting the building in her recently deleted folder on her phone.

Light pleaded not guilty and will return to court on October 15 for a pretrial hearing. Her defense attorney explained the incident was a misunderstanding and that the defendant was not looking to capture the jury, but Clancy.