> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bushletter.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Holdout juror prompts mistrial in Lindsay Clancy murder trial after blocking acquittal - URL: https://www.bushletter.com/one-juror-held-out-against-eleven-and-the-lindsay-clancy-murder-trial-collapsed/ - Published: 2026-09-07T21:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-09T06:00:25.000Z - Description: The Massachusetts panel deadlocked 11 to 1 after 38 hours of deliberations, and prosecutors have until a 29 September status conference to decide on a retrial. - Author: Editor - Tags: News, US, Courts ![Caleb Reed](https://res.cloudinary.com/dz77sb7j1/image/upload/bushletter/authors/caleb-reed.png) By **Caleb Reed** ยท 2026-09-05 TLDR Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial in the Lindsay Clancy murder case at Plymouth County Superior Court on Friday after the jury deadlocked 11 to 1\. The jury deliberated for more than 38 hours over seven days. Clancy does not dispute killing her three children in January 2023 but pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility. A status conference is scheduled for 29 September. KEY TAKEAWAYS 01The jury of nine women and three men deadlocked 11 to 1 over more than 38 hours of deliberations. 02Defence attorney Kevin Reddington attempted to have the holdout juror removed on Thursday. 03Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt denied an emergency petition to intervene on Friday. 04Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz has made no decision on a retrial for Clancy. 05Judge Sullivan scheduled a status conference for 9am on 29 September at Plymouth County Superior Court. Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial at Plymouth County Superior Court in Massachusetts on Friday 4 September 2026 at 2:23 pm local time. The jury of nine women and three men deadlocked 11 to 1 over more than 38 hours across seven days of deliberations. The jury foreperson sent three deadlock notes to the court on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. The final note arrived on Friday afternoon. "It is with a heavy heart that we report we are unable to come to a unanimous decision, and we will not be able to," the note said. The foreperson's notes detailed that one juror had reasonable doubt but would not agree to a verdict. The other 11 jurors supported a finding of not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility. The lone juror's identity and reasons remain protected, with names sealed for 14 days. Clancy, 36, a former labour and delivery nurse, does not dispute killing her children Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months, at the family home in Duxbury on 24 January 2023\. She pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges, with her defence resting on postpartum psychosis and a lack of criminal responsibility. Clancy is paralysed from the waist down after jumping from a window following the killings. Bushletter argued on 2 September, in [Nobody wears pink for a father who murders his children](https://www.bushletter.com/clancy-fundraiser-says-more-about-us-than-about-her/), that the crowd in pink outside the courthouse would never have gathered for a father who did the same thing. ## Defence attempts to remove juror Defence attorney Kevin Reddington attempted to have the holdout juror removed on Thursday, but Judge Sullivan refused the request. "I don't feel it is proper for me to side with one side or the other of the deliberations. I don't feel it's appropriate for me to say I agree with one juror or the 11," Sullivan told the court. The defence then filed an emergency petition with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Friday. A single justice, Dalila Argaez Wendlandt, denied the request to intervene. "Intervention is necessary in this case to avoid an avoidable mistrial of a case that is so time and labor intensive and that has captured so much public attention," the defence filing said. "A mistrial at this point is entirely avoidable, but only if the court does its job." Reddington attacked the lone juror outside the courthouse after the mistrial declaration. "They know that they were robbed by one man, for whatever his agenda was, who stole seven weeks of the life of these other jurors that were so attentive, so beautiful, so wonderful and listened to this evidence. So, I hope that guy can sleep well at night," Reddington told reporters. Reddington addressed the prosecution team directly in his remarks outside court. "I'm representing a woman who is a fantastic, wonderful individual," Reddington said. "This woman is so brave, so awesome. She sat there through seven weeks of the trial, where nobody had anything bad to say about her except the two prosecutors," he said. ## Prosecution and family responses Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz has made no decision on a retrial. "In the end, I bring it back to the child victims in this case: Cora, Dawson and Callan. We're here at the courthouse today, because those children are not," Cruz said. "Children were murdered, and it is our job to seek justice." Patrick Clancy, the children's father, released a statement through attorney David Meier on Friday afternoon. "The loss of Patrick's children is something from which he will never recover and from which there will never be closure," the statement read. "The prospect of reliving this tragedy through another trial is extraordinarily painful, for Patrick, for his family and for all us." ## Legal analysts weigh in Legal analyst Margo Lindauer said the foreperson's note was without precedent. "The foreperson has done this unprecedented thing sharing information that is private to the deliberation room because she believes that one of the other jurors is not following the law," Lindauer said. Lindauer said a juror with reasonable doubt is required to vote not guilty. "There are millions of cases in the country where there are not guiltys and that does not mean the crime did not happen or the defendant didn't do it. It means that there was not enough evidence or the prosecutors in whatever case we're talking about did not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt," Lindauer said. New York Law School professor Heather Cucolo discussed the Tuey-Rodriguez instruction Judge Sullivan gave the jury on Wednesday 2 September. "The purpose is to encourage jurors to reexamine their positions, consider differing viewpoints, and work toward a unanimous verdict without abandoning their sincerely held convictions," Cucolo said. Northeastern University law professor Daniel Medwed said the retrial decision should not turn on the odds of a conviction. "Ideally, the retrial calculation should be about the merits of reprosecution, not necessarily the chances of 'winning,' of securing a conviction," Medwed said. Judge Sullivan thanked the jurors before discharging them on Friday afternoon. "Each one of you knew how long the case was going to go. You knew how difficult the case was going to be to listen to facts-wise, but still, you braced for that duty," Sullivan said. Reddington plans to ask for a not-guilty finding and a sequestered jury at any retrial. Judge Sullivan scheduled a status conference for 9am on 29 September. SOURCES & CITATIONS 1. [Judge declares mistrial in Clancy case after jurors fail to reach verdict, WBUR, 4 September 2026](https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/09/04/lindsay-clancy-murder-trial-verdict-massachusetts?ref=bushletter.com) 2. [Judge declares mistrial in Lindsay Clancy case after jury deadlocked again, The Guardian, 4 September 2026](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/04/lindsay-clancy-mistrial?ref=bushletter.com) 3. [Key things to know about Lindsay Clancy's case after judge declares mistrial, PBS NewsHour, 4 September 2026](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/key-things-to-know-about-lindsay-clancys-case-after-judge-declares-mistrial?ref=bushletter.com) 4. [With jury deadlocked, judge declares a mistrial in Lindsay Clancy's murder case, NPR, 4 September 2026](https://www.npr.org/2026/09/04/nx-s1-5950421/lindsay-clancy-trial-verdict-mistrial?ref=bushletter.com) 5. [Lindsay Clancy defense wants to remove juror it says won't listen to the law, NBC News, 3 September 2026](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/lindsay-clancy-jury-remains-deadlocked-6th-day-deliberations-mistrial-rcna595884?ref=bushletter.com) 6. [Lindsay Clancy trial analysis: clash over holdout juror continues, NBC10 Boston, 4 September 2026](https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/lindsay-clancy-murder-trial/lindsay-clancy-trial-analysis-juror-holdout/4009442/?ref=bushletter.com) 7. [Lindsay Clancy trial tensions flare as judge declines to remove holdout juror, BBC News, 3 September 2026](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7v4n7pv5epo?ref=bushletter.com) 8. [Judge declares mistrial in Lindsay Clancy child killings case, AP News live coverage, 4 September 2026](https://apnews.com/live/lindsay-clancy-trial-09-04-2026?ref=bushletter.com) 9. [Lindsay Clancy murder case ends in mistrial, CBS News Boston, 4 September 2026](https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/live-updates/lindsay-clancy-murder-trial-hung-jury-mistrial-verdict-watch-live-updates/?ref=bushletter.com) 10. [Judge declares mistrial in Lindsay Clancy murder case, USA Today, 4 September 2026](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/crime/2026/09/04/lindsay-clancy-mistrial-hung-jury/91301286007/?ref=bushletter.com) 11. [Nobody wears pink for a father who murders his children, Bushletter, 2 September 2026](https://www.bushletter.com/clancy-fundraiser-says-more-about-us-than-about-her/) FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Why did Judge Sullivan declare a mistrial? Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial on 4 September 2026 because the jury of nine women and three men deadlocked 11 to 1\. The foreperson sent three notes over three days stating the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision after more than 38 hours of deliberations. What was Lindsay Clancy's defense in the trial? Lindsay Clancy pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges for killing her three children on 24 January 2023\. Her defense rested on postpartum psychosis and a lack of criminal responsibility. She does not dispute killing Cora, Dawson, and Callan at the family home in Duxbury. Will there be a retrial for Lindsay Clancy? Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz has made no decision on a retrial. Defence attorney Kevin Reddington plans to ask for a not-guilty finding and a sequestered jury at any retrial. Judge Sullivan scheduled a status conference for 9am on 29 September. ![Caleb Reed](https://res.cloudinary.com/dz77sb7j1/image/upload/bushletter/authors/caleb-reed.png) [Caleb Reed](https://bushletter.com/author/caleb-reed/?ref=bushletter.com) Caleb Reed writes about technology, energy and infrastructure. He likes the physical end of the story: the plants, the grids and the machines that everything else depends on.