Lindsay Clancy’s defense attorney sharply criticized the lone juror he said prevented the Massachusetts mother from receiving a not-guilty verdict in her murder trial.
Speaking to reporters after the case ended in a mistrial Friday afternoon, attorney Kevin Reddington directed pointed remarks at the holdout juror.
“Where do I begin to thank these jurors, minus one,” Reddington said. “I hope that guy can sleep at night.”
His comments came after Clancy’s trial over the deaths of her three children — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months — ended without a verdict.
Clancy has acknowledged strangling the children inside the family’s Duxbury home in 2023, but she pleaded not guilty to murder by reason of insanity, with her defense citing postpartum psychosis.
On Friday morning, the 12-member jury sent a note to the judge stating they were unable to reach a unanimous decision after nearly 38 hours of deliberations.
“She’s a classic example of a tragic person,” Reddington said of Clancy. “Her life is a tragedy, and she was robbed by this man,” he added, referring to the juror he identified as the holdout.
Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, stared blankly as Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial, while several female jurors were seen crying in the courtroom.
Lindsay Clancy’s defense attorney Kevin Reddington had a pointed message for the hold-out juror on Friday afternoon as he spoke to reporters following the collapse of Clancy’s trial
The former labor and delivery nurse stared absently as Judge William Sullivan made the mistrial declaration on Friday, as several female jurors wept
Reddington appeared devastated as he held his head in his hand. The group of 12 jurors submitted a note to the judge on Friday morning to say they could not come to a unanimous decision after deliberating for almost 38 hours
Reddington appeared devastated as he held his head in his hand.
‘It is with a heavy heart that we report we are unable to come to a unanimous decision and will not be able to,’ the judge read to the court.
It marked the third time that the panel, made up of nine women and three men, were deadlocked, with only one juror unable to agree.
Reddington made a last-ditch effort to appeal to the Supreme Judicial Court to ‘to inquire into the ability of the identified juror to apply the law.’
In his emergency request, Clancy’s attorney accused the lone juror of holding ‘a bias against those who suffer from debilitating mental illness.’
Reddington insisted in his filing that a ‘mistrial at this point is entirely avoidable, but only if the court does its job.’
In court, the lawyer cited the Americans with Disabilities Act in his request to the judge, saying he believes ‘this is a situation that there is a clear and present danger that this individual (the holdout juror) for some reason is taking a position that is intractable, regardless of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.’
The law requires the jury to come to a unanimous decision, and if they are unable to, the judge is forced to declare a mistrial.
Clancy stood trial for killing her three children Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months, at her Duxbury, Massachusetts, home in January 2023
Judge William Sullivan issued an order on Friday stating that the jurors’ identities will not be released for at least 14 days
‘Where do I begin to thank these jurors…minus one,’ Reddington told reporters. ‘I hope that guy can sleep at night’
Before the court adjourned, Reddington spoke to the judge and demanded that ‘one juror’ who is ‘refusing to listen to the law’ be removed from the panel
Following Friday’s mistrial declaration, Reddington told reporters that District Attorney Tim Cruz was ‘crushed’ in the ‘very sad case.’
‘He doesn’t have a case. He doesn’t have to stand here and say that he’s advocating on behalf of the victims and then look down to see what their names are,’ he continued.
‘I am representative of a woman who is a fantastic, wonderful individual.
‘Every day she came into this courthouse and stood tall, no pun intended; the poor thing is in a wheelchair, as we all know, for the rest of her life.
‘Sat there through seven weeks of trial where nobody had anything bad to say about her except for the two prosecutors and apparently Tim Cruz.’
Our News Outlet asked Reddington: ‘Would you ever consider reaching a plea agreement to spare Lindsay from a second trial?’
‘Did Mr Cruz say anything about that from here?’ he replied.
Reporters told him the DA hadn’t said whether he would retry yet.
‘If I was Tim Cruz I would probably say I don’t think I want to do a retrial because he’s going to lose,’ Reddington said.
Judge Sullivan issued an order on Friday stating that the jurors’ identities will not be released for at least 14 days.
Sullivan said: ‘A significant number of posts on various social media platforms have raised issues regarding various reactions to a verdict in this case.’
Clancy’s ex-husband Patrick Clancy’s lawyer issued a statement to the media thanking the jury for their service, but said he dreads a retrial.
Reddington told reporters that District Attorney Tim Cruz, seen, was ‘crushed’ in the ‘very sad case’ and ‘doesn’t have a case’
Clancy’s ex-husband Patrick Clancy’s lawyer issued a statement to the media thanking the jury for their service, but said he dreads a retrial
‘The loss of Patrick’s children is something from which he will never recover and from which there will never be closure,’ the statement said.
‘The prospect of reliving this tragedy through another trial is extraordinarily painful – for Patrick, for his family, and for all of us.’
Clancy will return to a state-run psychiatric facility at Tewksbury Hospital following the conclusion of her trial.
Reddington told reporters that Clancy was ‘not good’ after the mistrial.
‘It’s not right what she had to go through because she grieves the loss of those three children, Cora, Dawson, and Callan,’ he said.
The defense attorney indicated that a new trial could happen ‘sometime in the fall,’ adding that Clancy will ‘be ready.’
Prosecutors could decide to try the case again with a new jury or offer a plea deal.
Clancy’s defense team could also push to drop the charges against her.
A hearing has been set for September 29 to decide next steps in the case.
