PLYMOUTH: A Massachusetts jury was scheduled to deliberate for a fifth day on Wednesday (2130 GMT on Tuesday) on whether Lindsay Clancy was criminally responsible for the deaths of her three children in 2023, according to the Associated Press. The case has featured conflicting testimony from mental health experts regarding Clancy’s condition following childbirth.

Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse, was charged with murder after the deaths of her children at their home south of Boston in 2023. According to court testimony cited by the Associated Press, Clancy has not denied strangling her children but has asserted through her defense that postpartum psychosis led to her actions. After the incident, her husband found her severely injured in the yard, where she had landed after jumping from a second-story window, resulting in paralysis from the waist down. The trial has drawn significant public attention and highlighted issues surrounding maternal mental health after childbirth.

Jury deadlock would result in mistrial and prosecutorial review

If the jury cannot reach a unanimous verdict, a mistrial will be declared, according to Massachusetts court procedure. In that event, Clancy would remain charged with murder and held at a psychiatric hospital pending further legal proceedings, as outlined in state law and confirmed by legal experts interviewed by the Associated Press.

Prosecutors would then determine whether to retry Clancy before a new jury. If a retrial is pursued, the jury selection process would restart and a new trial date would be set, according to Brad Bailey, a Boston defense attorney and former prosecutor not involved in the case, who spoke to the Associated Press.

Plea deal or dismissal among possible outcomes

Bailey stated, “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.” Prosecutors could offer Clancy a plea deal as an alternative to a new trial, according to Bailey and other legal analysts cited by the Associated Press.

Prosecutors have argued that Clancy was aware of her actions at the time of the killings. The district attorney’s office could also decide not to retry the case, though Bailey noted this is less common. He said, “Sometimes they 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. Those are going to be expensive cases.”

Defense likely to oppose retrial

Bailey indicated that Clancy’s defense attorney would likely advocate against a retrial, presenting arguments to the district attorney’s office regarding Clancy’s ongoing suffering and the consequences she has already endured, including paralysis and the loss of her children.

If convicted, Clancy could face life imprisonment. An acquittal on grounds of lack of criminal responsibility could result in her confinement to a mental health facility, according to Massachusetts law and court procedure cited by the Associated Press.

Recent precedent: Karen Read mistrial

The Associated Press reported that another high-profile Massachusetts case, involving Karen Read, resulted in a mistrial in 2024 after jurors deadlocked on the fifth day of deliberations. Prosecutors chose to retry the case, but a different jury later found Read not guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges.

Photo: Charles Krupa / AP.