Plymouth, Mass. — The defense team for Lindsay Clancy has successfully requested permission to appeal to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, seeking an emergency stay that would pause the murder proceedings. The motion comes immediately after Judge William Sullivan indicated his intention to declare a mistrial on Friday morning.
Clancy, 36, faces charges of strangling her three young children—5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan—at their Duxbury home. During the trial, attorneys argued opposing motives: the prosecution contended Clancy acted intentionally and was capable of planning the acts, while the defense maintained she was experiencing severe postpartum psychosis at the time, invoking an insanity defense.
The jury had deliberated for six days before informing the court that it was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. On Thursday, defense attorney Kevin Reddington asked Sullivan to dismiss a single holdout juror who had reportedly expressed doubt but refused to join the other 11 jurors in acquitting Clancy. Reddington cited notes from the jury foreperson and described the holdout as taking an “intractable” position regardless of the evidence.
Sullivan denied the request to remove the juror but provided instructions regarding the legal standard of “reasonable doubt.” He also rejected a subsequent request from Reddington to poll the jury on whether they could agree on a lesser charge, such as manslaughter or second-degree murder, which would have prevented a retrial on first-degree murder charges.
Instead, the judge granted Reddington one hour to file his appeal for a stay with the state’s highest court. This is a developing story.
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