The trial ended in a mistrial

The jury returned for a seventh day and told the court it could not agree. Judge Sullivan said he would declare a mistrial and gave the defence an hour to ask the Massachusetts high court to stop him. A single justice refused, and the mistrial was declared. Lindsay Clancy remains charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said no decision had been made about a retrial. A mistrial is neither a conviction nor an acquittal.

1. 9:00 a.m.

   Deliberations resumed for a seventh day, the morning after the judge refused to remove the juror the defence said would not follow the instruction on reasonable doubt. The jury had deliberated about 36.5 hours at that point.

   Reported byNBC News·Associated Press
2. Friday morning

   Before the jury reported for the last time, Kevin Reddington objected in open court that the judge had not put the instruction on reasonable doubt to the jury forcefully enough the day before, and accused him of glossing over whether the holdout juror was refusing to apply the law as directed. Sullivan answered that he had considered the question long and hard and would not remove the juror. The exchange was sharp on both sides.

   You did it yesterday, you did it soft, you didn’t do it forcefully.

   What do you want me to do? Get a brass band?

   On the record: Recorded because it is the defence putting an objection to the adequacy of the jury instruction on the record, in open court, immediately before the mistrial. Whatever happens to the case next, that objection is now part of it.

   Reported byABC7 WWSB·NBC Boston·KY3 / Gray News
3. before the declaration

   Sullivan said he intended to declare a mistrial and first granted Kevin Reddington an hour to go to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. The application is a petition under Chapter 211, Section 3, which asks a single justice to review a lower court decision before the ordinary appeal process runs. What Reddington wanted reviewed was the refusal to question the holdout juror further or remove them. A single justice denied it.

   On the record: CORRECTED. This archive first recorded the hour as time to state grounds for an appeal, written from an account given while the hearing was still running. It was a Chapter 211, Section 3 petition to a single justice of the SJC, which is a specific and unusual step and not a notice of appeal. The petition was denied, so the mistrial followed from a ruling rather than from the hour simply running out.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe·ABC News·The Boston Globe·Fox News Digital
4. after the hour elapsed

   With the emergency petition refused, Judge Sullivan declared a mistrial on Friday afternoon and discharged the jury, which had reported for a third time that it could not reach a unanimous verdict. It had deliberated seven days after a trial of nearly six weeks.

   It is with a heavy heart that we report we are unable to come to a unanimous decision.

   On the record: Jury notes indicated a split of 11 to 1, and Kevin Reddington said afterwards that the 11 were for finding Clancy not guilty by reason of insanity. The court did not read the count out, so the direction rests on defence counsel; the number itself is reported from the notes.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe·NPR·CBS Boston·ABC News·NBC News·CNN·CBS Boston
5. what happens next

   The case returns to where it stood before the trial. Clancy remains charged with three counts of first-degree murder, and the decision rests with Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz, who said on the day that no decision had been made and that he would meet his team in due course. Reporting sets out four courses open to him: retry the first-degree murder charges to a new jury, proceed on second-degree murder in a way that would allow a trial before a judge rather than a jury, seek manslaughter, or negotiate a resolution.

   No decision has been made at this time.

   He drives the bus. It is entirely up to the DA.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe·NPR·NBC News
6. after the mistrial

   Judge Sullivan set 29 September 2026 to determine the next steps in the case. Outside court, Kevin Reddington said his client had been robbed by the lone juror and spoke warmly of her. District Attorney Timothy Cruz said the evidence and the law had merited the first-degree murder charges and that the Commonwealth would say later whether it would try the case again. Patrick Clancy, the children’s father, said through his attorney that he was grateful to the court and to the jurors, and that the prospect of living through another trial was extraordinarily painful.

   Children were murdered, and it is our job to seek justice.

   I hope that guy can sleep well at night.

   On the record: Reddington referred to the holdout juror as "that guy". Whether the juror was a man has not been stated by the court, and the archive does not treat counsel’s pronoun as establishing it.

   Reported byCBS Boston·NewsNation·The Boston Globe

A sixth day, and the first on which the deadlock got a face. A note in the afternoon led defence counsel to tell the court that one juror would not follow the instruction on reasonable doubt, and to move that the juror be removed. The Commonwealth objected. Judge Sullivan questioned every juror individually under oath, then refused, saying it was not for him to take a side in the deliberations. No mistrial was declared and the jury goes back on Friday.

1. 9:35 a.m.

   Deliberations resumed for a sixth day, with about 30 hours already behind the jury.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe
2. about 2:45 p.m.

   The jury sent a note. Its exact wording was never disclosed in open court, which matters for everything that followed: what the jury actually wrote is not on the public record, and the account of it comes from counsel arguing about it.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe·NBC News
3. after the note

   Kevin Reddington told the court the foreperson had indicated there was one juror who would not follow the instruction he had been given on reasonable doubt, and moved that the juror be removed. He argued it would be a shame for the case to end in a mistrial because a single juror would not follow the law, and said plainly that a mistrial was not what the defence wanted.

   Refuses to listen to the law that you have given him or her on reasonable doubt.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe·NBC News·ABC News
4. after the note

   ADA Jennifer Sprague opposed removing the juror, arguing that there was no way for the court to know what was happening inside the deliberations.

   No way to determine what the deliberations are.

   Reported byNBC News
5. after the note

   Sullivan questioned every juror individually, under oath, at sidebar, about whether they could follow his instructions. Each confirmed they could. He then declined to remove anyone and sent the jury back to deliberate.

   I do not feel that it is proper for me to side with one side or the other of the deliberations.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe·NBC News·ABC News·The New York Times
6. about 4:10 p.m.

   The jury was excused for the day without a verdict, having deliberated more than 35 hours across six days. It returns at 9 a.m. on Friday, when the judge indicated he would take the matter up again.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe·NBC News

The jury said for a second time that it could not agree. Judge Sullivan read it the Tuey-Rodriguez charge, the instruction Massachusetts gives a deadlocked jury and one of the last steps before a judge may declare a hung jury. It kept deliberating, then asked to go home early and was excused. No mistrial has been declared. Separately, the woman arrested outside the courthouse on Tuesday was arraigned and released.

1. 9:30 a.m.

   The twelve jurors, nine women and three men, returned for a fifth day of deliberations.

   Reported byABC News·Boston.com
2. about 2:00 p.m.

   The jury sent a second note reporting that it still could not reach a unanimous decision, roughly 28 hours into deliberations.

   After much deliberation, we are still unable to come to a unanimous decision.

   Reported byBoston.com·ABC News·NBC News
3. shortly after

   Sullivan read the jury the Tuey-Rodriguez instruction and, according to one account, sent written copies into the jury room. It tells jurors it is desirable that they reach a verdict, and that there is no reason to think another jury would be better placed to decide the case. It is one of the last steps available to a judge before finding a jury hung and declaring a mistrial.

   Reported byBoston.com·ABC News·NBC News
4. afternoon

   Dawn Light, 56, of Sutton, was arraigned in Plymouth District Court on one count of intimidating a witness, juror or person furnishing information. A not-guilty plea was entered on her behalf. Judge Shelby Smith refused the prosecution request for $50,000 bail and released her on personal recognizance, ordering her to stay away from Plymouth Superior Court, to have no contact with jurors or witnesses in this case, and not to share anything she recorded outside the courthouse on Tuesday. A State Police report filed in court alleges she filmed jurors on her phone as they left. She denied recording anyone, and said she had gone into the restricted court parking area hoping to see Lindsay Clancy leave.

   On the record: She has been charged and has pleaded not guilty. Everything above about what she is said to have done is an allegation in a police report, which is untested and which she disputes. It is recorded here because the bail conditions attach it to this case, not because anything has been proved.

   Reported byBoston.com·Court TV·CBS Boston
5. late afternoon

   The jury asked to be excused early and Judge Sullivan agreed, sending it home without a verdict after roughly 30 hours across five days. No mistrial has been declared or, on the reporting available, requested.

   Reported byNBC News·Boston.com

An hour into a fourth day the jury told Judge Sullivan it could not reach a unanimous decision. He did not declare a mistrial: he sent it back with the Tuey-Rodriguez charge, the Massachusetts instruction to a deadlocked jury. Separately, State Police arrested a woman outside the Plymouth courthouse that afternoon on a charge of intimidating a witness or juror. Police have not said whether that arrest has anything to do with this case.

1. about 10:00 a.m.

   The jury sent Judge Sullivan a note reporting that after many hours it could not reach a unanimous decision. At that point it had deliberated close to eighteen hours.

   After many hours of deliberation, we are unable to come to a unanimous decision.

   Reported byBoston.com·ABC News·U.S. News & World Report / Associated Press
2. shortly after

   Sullivan did not declare a mistrial. He observed that the case involved more than 80 witnesses and over 300 exhibits, reminded the jurors of all of his prior instructions, and directed them to keep deliberating.

   Reported byBoston.com·ABC News
3. about 10:20 a.m.

   Sullivan sent the jury back rather than declaring a mistrial, in the instruction Massachusetts gives a deadlocked jury, known as the Tuey-Rodriguez charge and informally as the dynamite charge. It tells jurors there is no reason to think another jury would be better placed to decide the case, or that either side could put the evidence more clearly at a retrial.

   I’m going to ask you to go back out and to continue your deliberations at this time.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe·Boston.com
4. during the day

   Reddington again told reporters the jurors are working hard. As of the latest reporting no verdict had been returned and deliberations were continuing.

   Reported byBoston.com
5. about 3:40 p.m.

   Massachusetts State Police arrested Dawn Light, 56, of Sutton, outside Plymouth District Court, on one charge of intimidation of a witness, juror or person furnishing information in connection with a criminal proceeding. She was expected to be arraigned the following day. State Police said she was taken into custody and would face a judge, and gave no further detail about what she is alleged to have done.

   On the record: When this was first reported, State Police would not say whether the arrest had anything to do with this trial, and this archive recorded the two as unconnected events on the same afternoon. The arraignment the following day changed that: a State Police report filed in court alleges she filmed jurors on her phone as they left, and the bail conditions bar her from contact with jurors or witnesses in this case. The allegation is denied and untested. See Day 26.

   Reported byWJAR NBC 10·NBC Boston·NewsNation·Boston.com
6. end of day

   The jury was sent home without a verdict, having deliberated roughly 23 hours across four days. Deliberations resume Wednesday.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe

A third full day of deliberations that passed without a single note to the judge. By the time the jury went home the total stood at roughly seventeen hours. Outside the courthouse Reddington spoke about the letters his client has been receiving, and about the press.

1. 9:14 a.m.

   Court opened. Judge Sullivan again asked the jurors whether they had encountered anything about the case over the weekend, then sent them in to deliberate. They had about ten and a half hours behind them.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe
2. 9:50 a.m.

   Reddington criticised weekend commentary about the case, singling out Sean Hannity's coverage as horrific and accusing Nancy Grace of misrepresenting the facts. He challenged Grace to point to any evidence that Clancy searched for how to kill, and named Globe reporter Shelley Murphy and Boston 25's Bob Ward as journalists who had it right.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe·Boston.com
3. 1:00 p.m.

   The jury broke for lunch and returned at about 2 p.m.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe
4. 2:35 p.m.

   About fifteen hours of deliberation, and not one question sent out to the judge all day.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe
5. 3:30 p.m.

   What the jury is working through: testimony from 84 witnesses over 21 sitting days, and close to 300 exhibits, among them crime scene photographs and thousands of pages of Clancy's medical records.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe·Boston.com
6. about 3:50 p.m.

   Judge Sullivan sent the jury home until Tuesday at 9 a.m., repeating the instruction not to discuss, read about, or research the case.

   Just stay the course, all right?

   Reported byThe Boston Globe·Boston.com·WJAR NBC 10
7. after court

   Reddington told reporters that supporters have sent Clancy enough letters to fill three banker's boxes, and that she reads every one. He described the jury as extremely attentive, with perfect attendance through the whole trial.

   They're working hard. They've been incredibly hard-working, paying attention through the whole trial.

   I just try to keep her spirits up. I talk to her and distract her.

   Reported byNBC News·The Boston Globe
8. after court

   Reddington said he hoped the case would change how women in Clancy's position are treated medically, pointing to the number of her appointments that were conducted virtually. Reporting notes the trial ran five weeks, with more than 70 witnesses called by the Commonwealth and 10 by the defense.

   Reported byWJAR NBC 10

The second day of deliberations, and the only day so far on which the jury asked the court for anything. It wanted two exhibits that had not been sent into the jury room with the rest: the bags of prescription bottles taken from the house, and the knife Clancy used on herself. The judge sent them in. No verdict, and the jury went home for the weekend.

1. 9:13 a.m.

   Deliberations resumed, after Judge Sullivan put his standard question to the jurors and confirmed none had read, watched or heard anything about the case overnight.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe
2. about 9:57 a.m.

   Prosecutors were called back into the courtroom, the usual sign that the jury has sent out a note.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe
3. 10:20 to 10:29 a.m.

   The jury sent its first question. Judge Sullivan called counsel to a sidebar and did not read the note aloud in open court. Reporters saw him hand a courtroom clerk two plastic bags holding Clancy's prescription bottles.

   On the record: Boston.com puts the question at around 10:20 a.m., the Globe's live blog at 10:29 a.m. Both may be right: one is likely the time the note arrived, the other the time the sidebar began.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe·Boston.com
4. 10:56 a.m.

   Defense attorney Kevin Reddington told reporters what the jury had asked for: Clancy's prescription pill bottles, and the knife she used to cut her wrists and neck. Neither had gone into the jury room with the other exhibits, because one was narcotics and the other a weapon. The judge had them sent in.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe·Boston.com·WBUR / Associated Press·ABC7 New York
5. 1:20 p.m.

   The court broke for lunch, with about four hours of deliberation done that morning and no verdict.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe
6. about 4:00 p.m.

   Judge Sullivan brought the jury back in to send them home for the weekend, telling them it had been a long day for everybody, and warning them again not to talk about the case, listen to anything, or read anything about it before Monday.

   It's been a long day for everybody.

   Don't talk about this case, don't talk about the deliberations, don't listen to anything, don't read anything.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe·Boston.com
7. 4:01 p.m.

   The jury was dismissed until Monday at 9 a.m., without a verdict, having deliberated roughly ten hours in total across two days.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe·NBC News·ABC7 New York
8. 4:33 p.m.

   Reddington spoke to reporters outside the courthouse. He described his client as frightened, and said she is facing three consecutive life sentences.

   Nervous, scared deep down, as usual.

   Reported byThe Boston Globe·Boston.com

The last day the jury heard anyone speak. After closing arguments and Judge Sullivan's instructions on the law, the case went to twelve jurors, nine women and three men, who deliberated into the late afternoon.

1. afternoon

   The jury received the case and deliberated for roughly three and a half hours before being sent home for the night.

   Reported byBoston.com·The Boston Globe