The judge in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy has granted the request of her defense attorney to appeal to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to seek an emergency stay in the case. This came moments after the judge said he intended to declare a mistrial Friday morning. Clancy, 36, was charged with strangling 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan, in the family's home in Duxbury, Mass.
Her defense argued she should not be held criminally liable because she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis at the time, an approach often called the insanity defense. The prosecution argued Clancy was well enough to plan and act intentionally. The jury has been deliberating for six days and told the judge they could not reach a verdict.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington asked Judge William Sullivan to dismiss a holdout juror on Thursday. Reddington referenced two notes the jury foreperson sent the court about the juror, who, according to Reddington, admitted doubt but refused to join the other 11 jurors in finding Clancy not guilty. However, Judge William Sullivan denied that request.
He did however instruct the jury on the meaning of "reasonable doubt." When making his request for a stay on Friday, Reddington said of the holdout juror, "I believe that this is a situation where there is a clear and present danger that this individual, for some reason, what it is we don't know, but is taking a position that's intractable, regardless of proof beyond a reasonable doubt." Reddington also asked the judge to survey the jury to see if they could reach an agreement on a lesser charge, such as second-degree murder or manslaughter, before declaring a mistrial, so that Clancy couldn't be tried again for first-degree murder. The judge denied that request as well. The judge agreed to give Reddington an hour to make his appeal to the state's top court.
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