The jury tasked with determining Lindsay Clancy’s guilt in the deaths of her three young children is experiencing a deadlock, potentially leading to a mistrial. After deliberating for 31 hours over six days, the 12-person jury, composed of nine women and three men, has communicated their inability to reach a unanimous decision to the judge on two separate occasions.

In response to the impasse, Plymouth Superior Court Judge William Sullivan issued a formal instruction, commonly known as a “Tuey-Rodriguez” charge, urging the jurors to continue their deliberations. However, legal experts suggest that a third note indicating a hopeless deadlock would likely compel the judge to declare a mistrial.

"If they come back after Tuey is read and say we are hopelessly deadlocked, that usually is it and should be it according to the case law," explained veteran Boston criminal defense attorney Brad Bailey. Attorneys noted that while the law surrounding repeated instructions is somewhat vague, a jury asking for the instruction to be read again could permit the judge to do so. Alternatively, if the jury indicated they were struggling but wished to continue deliberating, the judge would not be obligated to declare a mistrial. However, a third notification of a hopeless deadlock would leave the judge with no alternative but to call a mistrial.

"I think if they come back a third time, in all likelihood the judge would not continue to push, pressure, and prod them," said Boston lawyer Peter Elikann. He added that prolonged deliberations after an impasse can become a "pointless exercise" and anticipated a resolution, one way or another, relatively soon.

Clancy, 36, is accused of strangling her children, 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan, in their Duxbury home on January 24, 2023. Her defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, has argued for a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, asserting that Clancy was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis and was hallucinating voices telling her to kill her children and herself.