Deadlocked jury in Lindsay Clancy trial: What happens next if no verdict is reached?

A Massachusetts jury is set to deliberate for a fifth day on Wednesday to determine whether Lindsay Clancy was criminally responsible when she strangled her three children in 2023. The deliberations follow conflicting testimony regarding her postpartum mental health.

What happens if the jury deadlocks?

If the jury fails to reach a consensus, the judge will declare a mistrial. This resets the legal process to its original state before the trial. The 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse would remain charged with murder and continue to be held at a psychiatric hospital pending resolution of the criminal case.


Also read: Lindsay Clancy trial update: Defense says mother is ‘scared’ as jury weighs verdict

Prosecutors’ options following a mistrial

While Clancy would likely face a retrial, prosecutors hold several procedural options:

• Schedule a new trial: Prosecutors can choose to retry the case with a new jury, initiating the jury selection process again.
• Negotiate a plea deal: Boston defense attorney and former prosecutor Brad Bailey, who is not involved in the case, notes that a plea agreement could be explored. “Any time the threat of a retrial with murder one hanging over the client is re-interjected, defense lawyers will, at the very least, explore whether or not there’s any interest in a resolution,” Bailey said.
• Dismiss or decline to retry: Although less probable, the district attorney’s office could decide against a second trial. Bailey explained that prosecutors "sometimes decide not to, because of the sense that there may be the same result each time they try it, and because of the expenditures involved in trying the case to begin with, particularly when you have expert witnesses," adding, "Those are going to be expensive cases."

Defense strategy and case background

Clancy does not dispute strangling her children at their home south of Boston, but maintains that postpartum psychosis caused her actions. Following the incident, her husband discovered her badly injured in the yard after she jumped from a second-story window, an act that left her paralyzed from the waist down. Prosecutors contend she was fully aware of her actions.

If retrial discussions arise, Bailey expects the defense team to aggressively push to drop the charges, lobbying the district attorney’s office along the lines of: "Why are you doing this to this poor woman? She’s still clearly obviously suffering. She’s been punished with her paralysis and, worse than that, the loss of her three children."

Also read: Lindsay Clancy trial: ‘She left them discarded on the basement floor like broken toys because she was done playing the game,’ prosecutors say about Massachusetts mother who killed her 3 children

A conviction carries a potential life sentence in prison, whereas an acquittal on the grounds of criminal responsibility could lead to commitment in a mental health facility.

Precedent and public reaction

The situation mirrors the high-profile Massachusetts case of Karen Read, who was charged in the 2022 death of her police officer boyfriend. After jurors deadlocked on the fifth day of deliberations in her 2024 trial, a mistrial was declared. Prosecutors opted to retry Read, but a new jury subsequently found her not guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter.

Like the Read trial, Clancy’s livestreamed proceedings have sparked intense public polarization while highlighting maternal mental health after childbirth. Supporters view Clancy as a devoted mother who recognized her deteriorating state and proactively sought help, including a self-admitted psychiatric stay, prior to the tragedy. Conversely, critics argue she must be held criminally accountable for the acts.