Lindsay Clancy Lawyer Says There Are ‘Many Issues’ for Appeal: What Could Happen After Verdict?

The jury in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial is deadlocked, and Judge William Sullivan has ordered jurors to continue deliberating after they told the court Tuesday, Sept. 1, that they could not reach a unanimous decision.

The development came after nearly 18 hours of deliberations over four days in the Massachusetts case, which centers on whether Clancy was criminally responsible for killing her three young children at the family’s Duxbury home in January 2023.

Her attorney, Kevin Reddington, has also said he sees “many issues” that could potentially form the basis of an appeal if the case ultimately results in a conviction.

Judge Sends Jury Back to Deliberations

The 12-member jury informed Sullivan that it was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Rather than immediately declare a mistrial, the judge instructed the jurors to continue deliberating.

Sullivan reminded the panel that it had heard testimony from more than 80 witnesses and reviewed more than 300 exhibits during the lengthy trial.

The deadlock means there is no verdict yet. Clancy has not been convicted or acquitted, and deliberations remain ongoing.

If jurors reach an agreement, they could find Clancy guilty, acquit her, or determine that she was not criminally responsible because of mental illness, depending on the charges and legal questions before them.

A Continued Deadlock

If the jury ultimately remains unable to agree, Sullivan could declare a mistrial based on the hung jury. That would not necessarily end the prosecution.

A mistrial caused by a genuinely deadlocked jury can allow prosecutors to pursue a retrial, meaning Clancy could face another jury rather than automatically walking free.

The immediate next step is still the current jury. The court has not declared a mistrial.

Clancy’s Lawyer Sees ‘Many Issues’ for Appeal

Reddington has said he believes there are “many issues” that could potentially be raised on appeal.

That does not mean an appeal has already been filed. There is currently no conviction to appeal because the jury has not reached a verdict.

If Clancy is convicted, her defense could challenge the conviction through the appellate process, potentially raising claims involving legal rulings, evidence, jury instructions or other alleged errors during the trial.

The precise grounds would depend on the eventual verdict and the record developed in court.

Massachusetts has a particularly significant appellate review process for first-degree murder convictions, making the outcome of the current deliberations important beyond the courtroom.

The Mental-Health Defense

Clancy has acknowledged killing her children Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months but her defense has argued that severe mental illness, including postpartum psychosis, left her unable to understand that her actions were wrong.

Prosecutors have disputed that account and argued that Clancy was criminally responsible for the killings.

The competing accounts placed Clancy’s mental state at the center of the trial, with jurors hearing testimony from mental-health experts and reviewing evidence about her behavior, treatment and actions before and after the January 2023 killings.

That question now appears to be proving difficult for the jury to resolve unanimously.

Next in the Lindsay Clancy Case

The next major development will be whether jurors can reach a unanimous decision after Sullivan’s instruction to continue deliberating.

If they do, the court can announce the verdict. If they remain deadlocked, the judge could eventually declare a mistrial, potentially setting up a retrial.

An appeal becomes a separate issue only if the case produces a conviction.