Judge declares mistrial in Lindsay Clancy murder case

Judge William Sullivan has declared a mistrial in the highly anticipated case of Lindsay Clancy.

Today (September 4) marked the seventh day of deliberations from the jurors. However, the 12 jurors could not come to a decision on whether 36-year-old Clancy was criminally responsible when she strangled her children Cora, Dawson and Callan at the family's home in 2023.

Earlier today, the Massachusetts judge expressed his intentions to declare a mistrial. However, Clancy's lawyer, Kevin Reddington, was given an hour to appeal the decision.

The Supreme Judicial Court denied Lindsay Clancy’s emergency filing, and has called a mistrial.

"At this point, I'm going to declare that the jury is deadlocked, and I'm going to declare a mistrial," he told the jury, before discharging them.

When the announcement was made in the court room, the room was 'surprisingly silent,' the BBC reports. The jury were dismissed shortly after a mistrial was announced.

After the announcement, Judge Sullivan thanked the jurors, who had deliberated for over 36 hours.

Judge Sullivan has declared a retrial (Photo by Greg Derr / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

“Each one of you knew how long the case was going to go. You knew how difficult the case was going to be to listen to facts-wise, but still, you braced for that duty,” he said, saying he 'understands how hard everyone worked on the case'.

“I understood that you all gave everything you could, and probably more than you thought you could, and so, on behalf myself, I just want to thank you so much,” the judge concluded.

Addressing the court earlier today, hours the official announcement, Judge Sullivan said he 'does not feel he has any choice but to declare a mistrial'.

The jury said that it was with 'a heavy heart' that it could not reach a unanimous decision after several days of deliberation. They also agreed that it should be declared a mistrial.

As per CNN, the note read: "It is with a heavy heart that we report we are unable to come to a unanimous decision and will not be able to."

Despite the mistrial, it does not mean Clancy has been cleared of the crimes she is accused of. She will now remain at a psychiatric hospital while prosecutors decide how to proceed.

The judge has declared Lindsay Clancy's trial a mistrial (Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

This could either be in the form of a retrial, a plea deal, or a decision to drop the case.

After the judge announced his intention to declare a mistrial, before the official announcement, Clancy was taken out of the courtroom, the outlet reports, while her family remained silent.

Notes from the jurors announced that they were split 11 to 1 for acquittal. Reddington had his request to remove the juror denied.

The jury first told the judge on September 1 that they were unable to reach a unanimous decision, in which he then urged them to continue deliberating, but there were no changes, and the day ended with no verdict.

On September 2, the same conclusion was reached, where they could not reach a verdict by the end of the day, and yesterday, September 3, was when the request from Reddington to remove the juror was denied. He claimed the juror was not following instructions regarding 'reasonable doubt'.

Once again, they were sent home at 4pm.