Lindsay Clancy murder trial jury still deadlocked, defense attorney says juror "spurned the instructions"

There was a lengthy and animated sidebar in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial in Massachusetts Thursday afternoon as deliberations surpassed 34 hours without a verdict. 

After the sidebar, Clancy's attorney told Judge William Sullivan that he wants a juror thrown off the jury for ignoring the rules. Jurors were not present for this conversation.

The panel of nine women and three men resumed deliberations for a sixth day Thursday morning, even though they've told Plymouth Superior Court Judge William Sullivan twice that they are deadlocked.

Clancy has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the strangulation deaths of her three children - 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan - in their Duxbury home on Jan. 24, 2023.

Around 3 p.m. Thursday everybody was brought back into the courtroom and there was a long sidebar between the judge and attorneys.

Defense attorney Kevin Reddington was expressive, waving his hands and gesturing toward Clancy during the sidebar, according to WBZ-TV's Kristina Rex, who was in the courtroom.

At one point during the discussion, Reddington pushed Clancy's wheelchair up to the bench to join the conversation. Each juror was then briefly called to the sidebar individually, with the judge appearing to ask them a single question.  

In open court, Judge Sullivan then reminded jurors to follow the law as he defined it for them and proceeded to reread the definition of reasonable doubt. The jury was sent back out to continue deliberations, and attorneys spoke to the judge before the court.

"If we come back in a half hour with a mistrial because of a juror that has just spurned the instructions of this court, it's a shame. It's a real shame," Reddington said. "And that's why I object to the court's ruling, I request that we have further inquiry. My motion is to remove this juror that refuses to listen to your instruction on reasonable doubt."

Following the exchange as parties left the courtroom to await next steps, Clancy could be seen crying and leaning into Reddington.

After declaring they were deadlocked for a second time on Wednesday, Sullivan sent the jurors back into deliberations with one last instruction, known as a "dynamite charge." It's a last resort jury instruction to try to get a verdict. 

"I think that we're at the end of the road here," CBS News legal contributor Caroline Polisi said Thursday morning. "I think it's very unlikely we're going to get a verdict. I think most likely the jury is going to come in today, deliberate for a few more hours, really just to appease the judge, then tell them, you know, tell him we're hopelessly deadlocked. At that point, he really is required to declare a mistrial because anything more pushing them really gets into a coercive verdict, which is highly appealable."

Polisi said prosecutors have to think hard about how they want to move forward with the Clancy case if this ends in a mistrial. Reddington said he would be ready for a second trial "next week."

"Prosecutors and defense attorneys are going to want to poll those jurors after this potential mistrial because that will shape their decision whether to move forward, how they frame their case going forward. We might see a completely different theory of this case. If it gets tried a second time," Polisi said.

She said it's no surprise the jury is divided because public opinion nationwide on the case is split as well.

"It's a microcosm, right? It's not shocking that we're at a complete deadlock, because look at everybody else out here, where nobody can agree out here. So why would the jury agree?" Polisi said.

Jurors were given the option to unanimously vote for one of five options for Clancy - not guilty by reason of insanity, not guilty, first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter.

Reddington said his client was not criminally responsible for killing her children because she was overmedicated and suffering from postpartum psychosis. Prosecutors said Clancy planned the killings and knew right from wrong when she strangled the children.

If the jury convicts her of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, or manslaughter, she will go to prison. If jurors find her not guilty by reason of insanity, she will be required to continue her stay at Tewksbury State Hospital, where her case will be reviewed periodically.

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