A lone holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial used an exercise band and a water bottle to reenact the strangulation of Clancy's three young children during deliberations, a fellow juror told ABC News. The demonstration occurred after the jury had been deliberating for several days following the trial in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Clancy, 36, faced three counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of her children – Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 7 months – who were found strangled in their Duxbury home in January 2023. The defense has maintained Clancy suffered from postpartum depression and psychosis.
Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial on Friday after the jury reported being deadlocked, with one juror reportedly refusing to deliberate further. The jury foreperson had previously sent a note to the judge indicating that one juror was not following instructions regarding reasonable doubt.
Nick Dargie, 25, a juror in the case, recounted the holdout juror's actions. "He took the exercise band out of the bag, grabbed an empty water bottle and and tied the band around the water bottle and pulled it," Dargie said. "I was just so shocked that he did that."
Dargie expressed frustration, stating, "I asked him why, and it didn’t make any sense to me. Like, we‘re not in here to play detective or it‘s not a game of clue. like, this is serious."
The holdout juror, according to Dargie, could not provide specific evidence or witness testimony to support his position. "There was several times I would ask him to show us evidence or, you know, describe a witness testimony that helped to prove what he was saying, and ... he couldn‘t," Dargie stated.
Following the mistrial, Lindsay Clancy's defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, announced his intention to file a new motion to dismiss the charges based on double jeopardy. Reddington had previously expressed concern about the holdout juror's stance, though he defended a juror's right to dissent.
"That's what the system is based on, but when the forelady indicated clearly and unequivocally in the jury question that this person had doubt, reasonable doubt as we know now, and just refused to listen to the judge's instruction on the law, that's when I was upset," Reddington told CBS Mornings.
Judge Sullivan has scheduled a status hearing for September 29 to determine the next steps in the case. Clancy's attorney indicated he would appeal any decision to retry the case if necessary.