Lindsay Clancy jury says it is still deadlocked, judge gives final instruction

The jury in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial told Plymouth Superior Judge William Sullivan that they remain deadlocked after more than 27 hours of deliberations. It is the second time they have told the judge they cannot reach a verdict, leading Sullivan to read what is known as a final "dynamite" instruction.

The nine women and three men have been deliberating over the course of five days since getting the case in Plymouth Superior Court last Thursday.

They sent a note to Sullivan Tuesday morning saying they were "unable to come to a unanimous decision," but he sent them back to keep discussing the case. They sent a similar note on Wednesday around 2:15 p.m.

In response, Sullivan read what are called the "Tuey-Rodriguez" instructions to the jury.

In Massachusetts, this is a last resort instruction aimed at getting the jurors to reach a verdict. This instruction, also known as the "dynamite charge," happened in Karen Read's first trial in 2024.

After reading jurors the instruction, he sent them back out of the courtroom to continue deliberations.

Clancy is charged with the first-degree murders 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 .

Jurors can unanimously vote for one of five options - not guilty by reason of insanity, not guilty, first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter.

A hung jury could eventually lead to a mistrial . It has happened twice recently in Massachusetts - in 2023 in the case of Emanuel Lopes , who was charged with the murder of Weymouth Police Sgt. Michael Chesna, and in 2024 in the first Karen Read trial .

Clancy's attorney Kevin Reddington said she was not criminally responsible 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.

"We really don't know what's going on in that jury room, and we don't know what they're grappling with," said WBZ-TV legal analyst Jennifer Roman.

"Maybe they've reached a decision about not guilty by reason of insanity, but they don't know which charge. Maybe they've decided on the charge, but don't know if it's a guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity, or if it's some combination of those two things. We just don't know."

Reddington has called out Plymouth District Attorney Tim Cruz for charging Clancy with first-degree murder, which makes a jury trial mandatory.

If Clancy had been charged with second-degree murder, a plea deal could have been a possibility and there would have been an option to have the judge decide the case rather than a jury.