Latest Weather Blog
Mistrial formally declared in Lindsay Clancy trial after last-minute appeal by lawyer is denied
Related Story
PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — A judge declared a mistrial in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial Friday after jurors said they could not reach a unanimous verdict on whether she was criminally responsible for killing her three young children.
The mistrial, on the seventh day of deliberations, leaves the case unresolved and allows prosecutors to try Clancy again.
The deliberations took a dramatic turn late in the week when the judge said he was going to declare a mistrial Friday before suddenly changing course and giving her defense attorney a chance to appeal to the state’s highest appeals court.
That came a day after the foreperson told the judge that a lone holdout was refusing to follow the court’s instructions about reasonable doubt, offering a rare glimpse at possible conflict inside the jury room. Clancy’s attorney demanded the juror be kicked off the case.
The livestreamed trial drew attention to maternal mental health after childbirth and was closely watched by a polarized public. Clancy’s sympathizers saw her as a loving mom who had realized something was badly wrong in the months ahead of the killings and sought help, including checking herself in to a psychiatric hospital. Her detractors said she deserved to be punished for an evil and selfish act.
News
