Lindsay Clancy Could Be Rare Exception for DA Plea Deal, Veteran Attorney Says

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The Plymouth County district attorney’s office pursuing the case against Lindsay Clancy has a reputation for seldom negotiating plea deals. Still, a veteran defense lawyer familiar with the office says Clancy’s case could prove to be an “exception.”

Clancy, 36, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan, all younger than 6. The children were found strangled inside the family’s home in January 2023.

The direction of Clancy’s murder case remains uncertain after Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial on Friday, Sept. 4. Jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict and were reportedly split 11-1.

Boston criminal defense attorney Peter Elikann, who has experience opposing the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office, told News Media that prosecutors there are generally reluctant to negotiate.

“Normally, the reputation of the Plymouth County DA’s office is that they don’t like to do deals as much as other district attorney’s offices do, that they will push a case to trial even if it’s not their strongest case,” Elikann said. “This very well could be an exception.”

Elikann said it has become “conventional wisdom” that it is “unlikely that you’ll ever get 12 jurors to agree that she committed first-degree murder.”

“It would make sense that as a win-win situation that the DA’s office puts their head together with the defense counsel and they try to work out some sort of compromise that they can both live with,” he added.

Elikann said Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz likely realizes it’s going to be an uphill battle to secure a murder conviction at a potential retrial.

“Different juries can differ. But that might be an indication that it’s going to be really rough to get 12 people to find her guilty of first-degree murder. Therefore, it would be something that they would mull over. Why have another trial if the likelihood of getting a conviction would be considered so minimal by a lot of people?” Elikann said.

Nick Dargie, one of the jurors, told ABC News the holdout juror refused to explain how witness testimony helped prove his stance.

“There was several times I would ask him to show us evidence or, you know, describe a witness testimony that helped to prove what he was saying, and … he couldn’t,” Dargie said. “There wasn’t a single piece of evidence or witness testimony that he used to prove why he was thinking the way he was, which is why we ultimately sent in that note.”

Cruz, who has not decided whether to retry Clancy, said after the mistrial: “There will be no decisions made today regarding that.”

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“I’m going to be meeting with our team, and we will address this case further at the appropriate time and in the context of an official court proceeding,” Cruz said.

Clancy’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, said he hopes the two sides can “work something out” when asked about a possible plea agreement on Tuesday during a “Good Morning America” interview.

Reddington filed a motion on Wednesday asking Sullivan to enter a finding of not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility on each charge. He wants the motion to be heard at a hearing on Sept. 29.

“A hung jury is not a verdict; jeopardy does not terminate on a hung jury, and a mistrial ordinarily permits retrial,” Reddington conceded in the filing. 

He argued that 11 of the 12 jurors “applied the reasonable doubt standard,” concluding that the prosecutors hadn’t proven that Clancy was criminally responsible. The lone holdout on the jury, according to the motion and other jurors, allegedly ignored doubts he had and wanted a guilty verdict.

“I‘m willing to listen to Tim. I‘ve known Tim for 30 years. He‘s a very hard charging prosecutor,” Reddington said, referring to Cruz. “I hope, however, after sitting through this trial and seeing the evidence that was presented from the government as well as from the defense, that he would revisit that issue and hopefully would be able to work something out that would be acceptable to both sides.”

Retired Massachusetts Superior Judge Jack Lu told News Media while he thinks a plea deal is a “good idea” and would be in the public’s “interest,” he doesn’t think prosecutors would agree.

“I predict that the prosecutor’s office will approach this the same way, at least as the charges are concerned, as they did for trial number one, seeking a conviction of first-degree murder. There is some possibility that they’ll reduce the charges, and that would, that could happen, but I wouldn’t be predicting that,” Lu said.

“I think it’s the honest philosophical point of view of the prosecutor in this case that this individual should be convicted of first-degree murder,” he added.

News Media reached out to Cruz’s office for comment.

Clancy is due back in court on Sept. 29 for a status hearing, where more information about the future of her case may be revealed.