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Friday, September 4, 2026

The File

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Courts · Friday, September 4, 2026

Clancy jury’s foreperson says one juror will not follow reasonable-doubt rules; they return Friday

The File desk · Sep. 4, 2026, 8:10 a.m. ET

Status

Partially confirmed from Associated Press courtroom coverage. No Plymouth Superior Court minute order PDF was fetched. Underlying charges remain Confirmed from the indictment and the Plymouth district attorney.
  • Confirmed
    A Plymouth County grand jury on Sept. 15, 2023, returned three murder indictments under G.L. c. 265 § 1 naming Cora, Dawson, and Callan Clancy, and three companion strangulation counts. Lindsay M. Clancy of Duxbury pleaded not guilty.
  • Partially confirmed
    The Associated Press reported from Plymouth that the jury went home Thursday without a verdict after a sixth day. The foreperson’s note said a single juror will not follow the court’s reasonable-doubt instructions. Judge Sullivan questioned jurors privately, reread those instructions, and declined Kevin Reddington’s request to remove the juror. The jury returns Friday for a seventh day. No verdict.
The Associated Press reported from Plymouth, Mass., that the Lindsay Clancy murder jury went home Thursday, Sept. 3, without a verdict after a sixth day of deliberations. The foreperson’s note said a single juror will not follow the court’s reasonable-doubt instructions. Judge William Sullivan questioned jurors privately, reread those instructions, and declined defense attorney Kevin Reddington’s request to remove the juror. The jury returns Friday for a seventh day. Clancy, 36, does not deny strangling Cora, Dawson, and Callan. The defense argues postpartum psychosis. Prosecutors say she knew what she was doing. No verdict. If jurors cannot agree, the judge could declare a mistrial.
Associated Press, datelined PLYMOUTH, Mass.: “A deadlocked jury returns Friday for the seventh day of deliberations in the Lindsay Clancy trial, a day after the jury’s foreperson told the judge a single juror won’t follow the court’s instructions about reasonable doubt.” AP said the Thursday note was “the clearest glimpse yet of what may be keeping jurors from reaching a verdict.” “The jury has twice told Judge William Sullivan that it is unable to agree on a verdict.”
AP: on Thursday, Sullivan “brought in each juror individually and questioned them in private,” then “reread his instructions on reasonable doubt before sending them back to continue deliberating.” Clancy’s lawyer, Kevin Reddington, “asked Sullivan to dismiss the juror from the case, arguing the person had refused to follow the judge’s instructions.” Prosecutors objected. Sullivan declined. AP quoted him: “I don’t feel it is proper for me to side with one side or the other of the deliberations.” “I have asked if they are able to follow my instructions. They swore earlier that they could.”
AP: Clancy, 36, a former labor-and-delivery nurse, “doesn’t deny strangling her children in the basement of their home in 2023.” The defense argues postpartum psychosis; prosecutors say she knew what she was doing when she killed Cora, Dawson, and Callan, ages 5, 3, and 8 months. Postpartum psychosis is not treated here as a medical finding of this desk. No official court PDF of the jury note was fetched. There is no verdict.

What is still unknown or disputed

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    Deadlocked jury to resume deliberations in Lindsay Clancy trial

    Associated Press · September 3, 2026

    A deadlocked jury returns Friday for the seventh day of deliberations in the Lindsay Clancy trial, a day after the jury’s foreperson told the judge a single juror won’t follow the court’s instructions about reasonable doubt. Sullivan declined to remove the juror.

    https://apnews.com/article/lindsay-clancy-postpartum-massachusetts-trial-a939db73e864393eb9c727daa788e7a2

  2. Source 2

    Commonwealth v. Lindsay M. Clancy, true bills (Plymouth Superior Court)

    Plymouth Superior Court (WBUR copy of the indictment PDF) · September 15, 2023

    Six true bills returned Sept. 15, 2023. Three charge murder under G.L. c. 265 § 1 in the deaths of Cora, Dawson, and Callan Clancy.

    https://media.wbur.org/wp/2023/09/clancy-indictment.pdf

  3. Source 3

    Duxbury Woman Arraigned On Charges That She Murdered Her Three Children

    Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office · October 26, 2023

    Lindsay Clancy was arraigned on three counts each of Murder and Strangulation and pleaded not guilty.

    https://plymouthda.com/news/2023-press-releases/duxbury-woman-arraigned-on-charges-that-she-murdered-her-three-children/