Jurors in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial deliberated for a fifth day Wednesday, telling the court for the second time that they were unable to reach a unanimous decision. After receiving an uncommon instruction from the judge urging them to continue their work toward a verdict, the panel ended the day without resolving the case.
The developments pushed the closely followed Massachusetts murder trial nearer to the possibility of a mistrial, although jurors are expected to return Thursday to resume deliberations.
The jury, made up of nine women and three men, returned to deliberations Wednesday after informing Plymouth Superior Court Judge William Sullivan on Tuesday that it could not agree unanimously on a verdict.
When the panel reported another deadlock Wednesday, Sullivan issued a Tuey-Rodriguez charge, a formal instruction that asks jurors to keep deliberating while also cautioning them not to surrender sincerely held views simply for the sake of reaching unanimity.
After the instruction, jurors spent several more hours behind closed doors before Sullivan dismissed them for the day, still without a verdict.
Lindsay Clancy sits at the defense table during her murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass., August 5, 2026. (David L. Ryan/Pool)
Named for two Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decisions, the Tuey-Rodriguez charge encourages jurors to carefully consider one another’s views while preserving sincerely held convictions. It is generally considered the final procedural step before a judge may declare a mistrial if jurors remain unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
“The reasoning is that it often works,” retired Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Thomas Drechsler previously told News Media. “It encourages the jurors to rethink their own feelings in light of what other jurors feel, reminds them that no one’s ever going to be in a better position to decide this than them.”
But if jurors again report they are deadlocked after receiving the instruction, Drechsler said, “I think there’s a high likelihood that it will end up in a mistrial.”
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The jury must determine whether Clancy was criminally responsible when she killed her three children — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and 8-month-old Callan — inside the family’s Duxbury, Massachusetts, home Jan. 24, 2023.
The empty Plymouth Superior Court jury box during the Lindsay Clancy murder trial in Plymouth Superior Court, Plymouth, Mass., Aug. 25, 2026. (Greg Derr/Pool The Patriot Ledger via AP)
Clancy, 36, a former labor and delivery nurse, does not dispute killing the children. Her defense argues she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and should be found not criminally responsible. Prosecutors contend she carefully planned the killings, knew right from wrong and concealed disturbing thoughts from medical providers because she understood they were wrong.
Wednesday also brought developments outside the courtroom after Dawn Light, the woman accused of filming jurors as they left the courthouse Tuesday, was arraigned on a witness intimidation-related charge. She pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors said a video recovered from her cellphone showed Clancy jurors leaving the courthouse, while Light maintained she was trying to catch a glimpse of Clancy and did not realize she had recorded jurors.
A judge released Light on personal recognizance and ordered her to stay away from the courthouse, have no contact with jurors or witnesses and refrain from sharing any images.
Before jurors resumed deliberations Wednesday morning, Sullivan also reminded those in the courtroom that orders protecting jurors and other participants are “being enforced and will be enforced,” though he did not specifically reference Light’s arrest.
Superior Court Judge William Sullivan presides over day three of jury selection July 22, 2026, in the triple murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, who is accused of murdering her three young children in 2023 in their Duxbury, Mass. home. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via Pool)
Jurors will return Thursday to resume deliberations, with the possibility of a mistrial looming if they again report they cannot reach a unanimous verdict.