PLYMOUTH, Mass. (Court TV) — No verdict in Lindsay Clancy‘s murder trial means the prosecution and defense will have to conduct another trial — but when?
Lindsay Clancy sits with her attorney, Kevin Reddington, as the judge declares a mistrial on Sept. 4, 2026. (Court TV)
A panel of 12 jurors sent a note on Friday saying it was unable to come to a unanimous decision in Clancy’s murder trial after seven days of deliberations and five weeks of testimony and evidence. Clancy, 36, is charged with three counts of murder for the strangulation deaths of Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months. Clancy admitted that she strangled the children in her home’s basement before slashing her neck and wrists and jumping out of a window, but claimed that she was in the throes of postpartum psychosis and was following instructions from a disembodied voice.
Immediately after Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial on Friday and the jury left the room, Clancy’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, said he wanted hearings to begin immediately. He requested a hearing Tuesday for a motion to dismiss all charges against Clancy, with jury selection for the retrial to begin the following Monday.
“My thinking is to try it sooner, but I’m not sure that sooner,” Sullivan said, saying he would need to check his schedule.
Sullivan said he would like the trial to happen sometime this fall, but agreed that proceedings should begin quickly.
Under Massachusetts law, a defendant cannot waive a jury for a first-degree murder charge; if prosecutors do not amend the charges filed against Clancy, the second trial is likely to closely mirror the first. Following the mistrial, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said “no decisions” had been made by his office regarding the retrial.
“In the end, I understand that this has been an emotional trial for everybody,” Cruz said. “But in the end, I bring it all back to the child victims in this case: Cora, Dawson and Callan. This was, and has always been, about getting justice for those three little babies. We’re at this courthouse today because those children are not.”
The prosecution and defense will return to court on Sept. 28 for a hearing where Reddington will argue his motion to dismiss the charges; Clancy is expected to attend.
When pressed on Friday about plans for a retrial, Cruz refused to confirm whether he would amend the charges against the defendant; he also refused to speculate about whether an impartial jury could be found given the extensive media coverage during the trial.
Clancy’s civil team spoke after the mistrial, saying that the retrial will likely not impact their case, which does not yet have a scheduled trial date.
