Lindsay Clancy, 36 years old, accused of triple murder for killing her children, kept a fixed gaze. The jury that holds her fate in their hands was going to enter the room for the first time in full after three days of deliberations, shortly after starting their fourth day. In the Plymouth (Massachusetts) court, the feeling spread that something important was going to happen in this case that has captured the attention of the United States.
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And so it happened. The jury, composed of nine women and three men, had communicated that it was divided and could not reach a unanimous agreement, according to what they informed the judge after starting their fourth day of deliberations this Tuesday.
They met for less than an hour at the start of the morning and, shortly after 10, they had a question for the Plymouth Superior Court judge, William Sullivan, who then asked them to return to deliberate to try to reach a verdict.
“After many hours of deliberation, we have not been able to reach a unanimous decision,” Sullivan announced while reading the note sent by the jury in court. That division reflects what is happening in the U.S. The defense attorney has requested acquittal because she was not responsible due to suffering postpartum trauma that nullified her cognitive capacity, while the prosecutor argues that she was fully aware of what she was doing when she strangled her children.
This has led many women to demonstrate in front of the court, supporting the request that Clancy was not responsible for her actions. Others, however, remember that three children lost their lives.
Once the jury deadlock was known, it was then that the judge asked them to return to continue their deliberations in private. Until that moment, the jury had deliberated for more than 17 hours since they began reviewing the matter last Thursday.
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“I know it has been a very long trial, there were more than 80 witnesses, more than 300 pieces of evidence exhibited and, despite all this, I ask you to return to your room, keep in mind all the instructions I gave you and continue with the deliberation at this moment. Review the evidence,” the judge requested.
Clancy has pleaded not guilty to the charges of first-degree murder for the death of her three children: Cora, 5 years old; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months old, which occurred in her home in Duxbury on January 24, 2023. Her husband had gone to pick up prepared food.
The defendant, a nurse by profession, made that declaration of innocence despite having admitted that she killed her three children, then took a certain amount of pills, cut herself with a knife, and threw herself from the second floor. She was immobilized, so she uses a wheelchair. Previously she had sought help, arguing that she suffered from postpartum stress. No one seemed to listen to her and the only thing she achieved was to be overmedicated, according to the defense.
The idea that everything could end in a mistrial hovered over this case. This circumstance would raise the possibility of a new oral hearing being convened.
The jury could find her guilty of murder or involuntary manslaughter, which seems more feasible to reach a unanimous agreement, but also acquit her if the jury members consider that the deterioration of her mental health was responsible for the tragedy. If acquitted, the judge could still order her commitment to a mental health facility if an evaluation determines that she poses a danger to the public. And this could also be adopted in the case of a mistrial, or keep her in prison.
