Lindsay Clancy’s thoughts are ‘on her children’ as judge issues controversial instruction to deadlocked jury: Live updates

As he left the courthouse on Wednesday, Lindsay Clancy’s defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, revealed that the killer mom is ‘sad’ and ‘upset’ as she is waiting to learn her fate.

‘You see the mascara on my suit? That’s how she’s holding up,’ Reddington said. ‘She’s upset. She’s very, very upset.

‘One thing that is foremost in her mind are her children, and she’s very, very sad.’

Clancy, 36, is on trial for killing her three children, Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan, at her home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in 2023.

Court ended for the day with the jury at a standstill after the panel told the judge they could not reach a unanimous verdict for the second time throughout their deliberations.

Judge William Sullivan read them the Tuey-Rodriguez instructions, also known as the ‘dynamite charge ‘ – which guides them that they are in the best position to reach a verdict and that a future jury would not be better equipped than them.

It is a final instruction read to a jury in Massachusetts before a mistrial can be declared.

With jury in verdict deadlock, those closest to grieving dad reveal distressing crisis hundreds of miles away from court as he retreats to ‘bunker.’

The jury told the judge they are unable to reach a unanimous decision after 23 hours of deliberations on Wednesday.

‘Members of the jury, I’ve got your question, and the question, or probably more of a statement than a question, saying, “After much deliberation, we are still unable to come to a unanimous decision,”‘ Judge Sullivan said.

He then read the panel the Tuey-Rodriguez instruction– also known as the ‘dynamite charge’ – which guides them that they are in the best position to reach a verdict and that a future jury would not be better equipped than them.

It is a final instruction read to a jury in Massachusetts before a mistrial can be declared.

‘There is no reason to suppose that the case will ever be submitted to 12 persons more intelligent, more impartial or more competent to decide it. Or that more or clear evidence will be produced,’ Sullivan said.

‘With this in mind, it’s your duty to decide the case if you can do it conscientiously. In order to make a decision more attainable, the law imposes the burden of proof on one party or the other in all cases. In the present case, a criminal case, the burden of proof is on the Commonwealth to establish every element of the crime charged beyond a reasonable doubt.

‘If you are left in doubt of any element of the crime, the defendant is entitled to the benefit of the doubt and must be acquitted.’

The jury was brought into the courtroom, and several of them seemed to glance over at Clancy.

Judge Sullivan asked the panel his usual questions – whether they had discussed the case and whether anything was impacting their ability to serve.

The group was then sent back to deliberations.

Lindsay Clancy is already sitting at the defense table. She is wearing a green top with a knitted sweater.

Her lawyer, Kevin Reddington, is standing, chatting to her nurses in the row behind.

Prosecutor Shanan Buckingham is wearing a black bow in her hair.

On the latest episode of The Crime Desk’s The Trial USA: The Trial of Lindsay Clancy podcast, host Kayla Brantley is joined by crime correspondent Rachel Sharp who has been in court every day covering the murder trial.

Clancy, 36, is on trial for killing her three children – Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan – at her home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in 2023.

She does not deny killing them but has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming she was suffering from severe post-partum mental illness that left her unable to control her own actions.

The trial has become a battle over whether or not Clancy should be criminally responsible for the death of her children with the defense and prosecution submitting opposing psychiatric assessments of the mother of three.

It’s a dreary, cold day outside Plymouth County Superior Court, where the jury in Lindsay Clancy’s trial will return this morning to resume deliberations.

So far, the nine women and three men have deliberated for around 29.5 hours over five days.

Yesterday, the judge read them the Tuey-Rodriguez instructions after the jury sent a second message saying they were deadlocked and could not reach a unanimous decision.