Lindsay Clancy Retrial: Social Media Could Boost Defense

As jurors in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial told the court for a second time Wednesday that they could not reach a verdict, a retired Massachusetts Superior Court judge said a mistrial could create an uncommon strategic opening for the defense if the case is tried again.

Clancy, 36, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her young children, Cora, Dawson and Callan, all of whom were under 6 years old when they were found strangled inside the family’s Massachusetts home in January 2023.

On Wednesday afternoon, Judge William Sullivan issued jurors a Tuey-Rodriguez instruction after they again indicated they were deadlocked. The legal charge is used when a jury is struggling to agree, urging members to keep deliberating and consider one another’s views while making clear they should not abandon sincerely held beliefs simply to reach a unanimous decision.

Sullivan had held off on giving that instruction earlier in the week, when jurors first told the court they were having trouble finding common ground, choosing at that point to send them back to continue deliberations.

The jurors deliberating in Clancy’s murder trial are discussing several options, which include first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary or involuntary manslaughter, not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility (insanity) or not guilty.

Retired Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Jack Lu told News Media that a retrial after a mistrial has traditionally favored the prosecution, but that social media has upended that conventional wisdom.

“In the past, the conventional wisdom was that the prosecution is more likely to win on a retrial after a hung jury. Now it’s different… The new conventional wisdom is question mark because of social media infected trials,” Lu said.

Lu pointed to Karen Read’s case, the Massachusetts woman who was tried twice in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend. Her case drew a massive amount of social media interest, which he said had a major impact on her trials. In 2024, jurors deadlocked in Read’s trial, and she was acquitted at her retrial in 2025.

“In the Karen Read case, the social media abuse was at a slow boil in the first trial. At the second trial, it just all erupted,” Lu said.

Lu himself said he’s no longer on social media because “it’s too abusive an environment.”

While Reddington himself said he’d “absolutely” go to trial again if Sullivan declares a mistrial, he said Clancy couldn’t emotionally handle another one.

“She had a flat affect, she’s sad,” he said on Tuesday to reporters.

A GoFundMe for Clancy’s parents, the Musgrove family, has surpassed $830,000, though it’s unclear who would fund her defense in a retrial, or whether Reddington would charge for it.

Wednesday marks the second time the Clancy jury reported they’ve been unable to reach a unanimous decision.

In a note sent to Sullivan on Tuesday, jurors said that “after many hours of deliberation, we are unable to come to a unanimous decision.” He directed them to resume their work.

“I brought you back out because I know that this was a long trial. All right, I know there were over 80 witnesses. There were over 300 exhibits. Because of that, I’m going to ask you to go back out, keeping in mind all of the instructions that I gave you to go out and to continue your deliberations at this time. All right. And so, with that, I’m going to ask you to go back out. Like I said, keep in mind the instructions I gave you reviewing the evidence, and I’d ask you to resume your deliberations at this time,” Sullivan said.

If jurors return once more to say they are still deadlocked, Lu said, the case will likely end in a mistrial.

“I’m afraid so, with limited exceptions, it would end up being a mistrial, a true hung jury, deadlocked jury,” Lu said.

Jurors will return Thursday to continue deliberations for a sixth day, having already spent more than 28 hours weighing a verdict.