The gray-haired woman in the back row scrunched up her face and put her head down, trying her hardest not to cry. Moments later, she began wiping the tears from her eyes.
Visibly exhausted and downtrodden, it was not the outcome that she nor any of the other 11 jurors clearly had hoped for when Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial in‘s trial.
Throughout the five weeks of grueling testimony, there were several moments where I noticed the overwhelming emotion written all over the middle-aged woman’s face.
She had broken down crying listening to Patrick Clancy’s guttural screams in the devastating 911 call from the moment that he found his three children’s bodies on the evening of January 24, 2023.
She had dabbed her tear-stained face with tissues when forced to look at the graphic photos of five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan’s bodies from their autopsies.
And she had shaken her head with frustration, her hair becoming increasingly disheveled, her face tired, as the jury was sent out again and again to try to overcome a deadlock.
Now, after seven agonizing days of deliberations behind closed doors inside Plymouth County Superior Court, she looked visibly beaten down and devastated that it had ended this way.
On Friday, a mistrial was declared after the jury of nine women and three men could not reach a unanimous verdict in the case.
Lindsay Clancy looks on as Judge William Sullivan indicates he will rule a mistrial in Plymouth Superior Court on Friday
It was a momentous final day in court after a grueling five week trial over Clancy’s fate
Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan were strangled at the family home in January 2023
Five weeks of testimony from 84 witnesses. Almost 300 exhibits including colorful exercise bands, a kitchen knife and bottles of prescription pills. Countless tears shed inside the courtroom by Clancy, her grief-stricken family and the jury. And 38 hours of deliberations.
But no verdict.
It marks a monumental end to a grueling trial followed gavel-to-gavel across America – and, in recent weeks, the world.
The distressing case has shone a spotlight on postpartum mental illness and raised pointed questions about the nation’s healthcare industry, in particular its treatment of women after childbirth.
Sitting inside the courtroom in Plymouth, Massachusetts, when the mistrial was declared, it felt like a heavy, hammer blow to all of those involved.
Clancy – who had broken down into uncontrollable sobs several times at trial – watched the jurors and appeared to try to maintain a stoic expression.
Her parents – who have supported her every day of the trial – appeared shattered.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington leaned back in his chair, rubbing his face – his usual cheerful, calm demeanor gone.
Prosecutors Shanan Buckingham – complete with her now-signature black bow – and Jennifer Sprague looked ahead, their boss District Attorney Tim Cruz’s presence in the room a marker of the magnitude of the case.
A second female juror turned her chair away from the public gallery as tears began to fall down her cheeks.
Having sat inside the courtroom every single day of the six-week trial and witnessing the devastation etched on the faces of the family members, the prospect of a second trial looms heavy.
But, given how divisive the case has been outside the courthouse, perhaps none of us should have been surprised that it would end this way.
The prosecution wanted the jury to believe that Clancy plotted and premeditated to murder her children with extreme atrocity that awful evening on January 24, 2023 – when she strangled five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan in their home in Duxbury and tried to kill herself.
The Clancy family home seen one day after Lindsay killed the three children and tried to kill herself
Lindsay, Patrick, Cora, Dawson and Callan Clancy together before the January 2023 killings
The defense wanted the jury to believe that Clancy was not in control of her actions when she committed the crimes because she was suffering from severe postpartum depression and psychosis.
The question at the heart of the case was one of criminal responsibility: did Lindsay Clancy have a mental disease or defect, and as a result of that mental disease or defect, did she lack the capacity to either know what she was doing was wrong or to conform her conduct to the requirements of the law?
It was a question that 11 out of the 12 jurors were in agreement on. A lone holdout tanked the possibility of a unanimous verdict.
As Reddington later said outside of court, he hoped that the apparently male juror would ‘sleep well at night’ knowing that he had singlehandedly blocked Clancy’s acquittal as not guilty by reason of insanity.
While tensions clearly had boiled over inside the jury room in the final week, outside the courthouse it was similarly chaotic.
What started out seven weeks ago during jury selection as a small huddle of mainly local papers and TV stations, alongside the Daily Mail, had spawned into a mob of hundreds of camera crews from across the country.
Shoving, pushing and shouting became the norm and at least one camera was broken as Reddington found himself at the center of a wild scrum jostling to ask questions. So much so, that the attorney – who sports a large skull ring and represented mobster James Whitey Bulger’s girlfriend Catherine Greig – turned up with a bodyguard for the final two days.
A small collective of supporters, some dressed in pink, continued to show up at the courthouse, sending a message of solidarity around mental health issues.
As the days wore on, they were countered by controversial figures including right-wing agitators looking to get their moment in the spotlight – and one woman who allegedly filmed the jury leaving court.
Reddington put his head in his hands as a mistrial was declared in the case after six grueling weeks
Mike and Paula Musgrove, Clancy’s parents have shown up to support her every day of the trial
Fiery moment between the judge and defense over whether or not he should dismiss the holdout juror
Judge in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial announces a mistrial
That woman, Dawn Light, was hit with criminal charges of juror intimidation – ironically being hauled into the very same courthouse for her own arraignment hours later.
As she left the courthouse, the tables drastically turned and she broke into a run trying to avoid the camera flashes and videos.
The chaotic scenes around Plymouth County Superior Court were fast becoming a distraction from the harrowing, complex trial taking place inside the courtroom on the third floor.
But, behind the scenes, the jurors were still hard at work.
As the days rumbled on,several of them grew more disheveled – hair unkempt, bags under their eyes – an outward sign of the turmoil taking place behind closed doors.
One day, speculation about which way they were leaning spread online after one member of the public tweeted that several of them were wearing pink.
Having seen their wardrobes for the past six weeks, it was clear to me that there was nothing different about their outfit choices that day.
The bigger question was whether they could see beyond the brutal killings of three adorable children to the question of severe mental illness.
Several times, jurors had grown emotional during grueling testimony and evidence.
During the prosecution’s closing argument, one female juror wiped tears from her eyes as Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague told them that Clancy had left her children’s bodies ‘discarded on the basement floor, like broken toys.’
It was a harrowing image that seemed to work in conjuring emotions from the people deciding her fate.
Yet, given Reddington’s assertion that Clancy was ‘robbed’ of an acquittal by one man, it became clear that the female jurors who broke down were still able to separate their emotionsfrom the facts.
In a trial that was grueling and taxing from the get-go – and which sparked huge interest online and outside court – that final day ended in spectacularly dramatic fashion.
In an utterly unprecedented scene, the judge announced he was declaring a mistrial – before a stunning one-hour pause following a last-ditch Hail Mary bid from the defense.
It all began on Tuesday – day four of deliberations – when the jury sent the dreaded message for the first time: that they could not reach a unanimous decision.
A collective murmur of shock echoed round the courtroom when the contents of the note were revealed. The jury was then sent back out by the judge to push on.
Another 10 hours of deliberations passed before the jury sent the message for a second time. At that point, 28 hours in, the judge read them the Tuey-Rodriguez instructions and told them to deliberate further – an instruction that prompted a visible wince and slight head shake from one clearly fatigued female juror.
In the courtroom corridors, tension filled the air – as the possibility of a verdict grew slimmer and slimmer.
Dozens of journalists hunkered down in the hallway, clamoring for seats closest to the doors.
Every time the doors opened, our eyes darted that way.
Several times, rumors of movement spread and a huge line formed only for a court officer to laugh and confirm it was a false alarm.
But when word spread of a third note, it seemed there was no turning back: a hung jury and mistrial was surely on the cards.
Crowd of reporters gather to listen to Kevin Reddington after the mistrial was declared
Reddington made an 11th-hour Hail Mary bid to try to toss the juror so a verdict could be reached
Traipsing into the courtroom on Thursday afternoon, the overwhelming consensus was that it was all over. All around the room, it was deathly silent – only the sound of furious typing from the journalists.
Instead, an unprecedented situation broke out as Clancy was taken up to the judge’s bench in her wheelchair while one-by-one, every juror was brought out and questioned individually.
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What transpired was that one single juror was the holdout – and that the foreperson had sent a note telling the judge that they were allegedly refusing to follow the law when it comes to reasonable doubt.
Reddington asked the judge to throw the juror from the trial.
The judge said no but what seemed almost certain to be a mistrial suddenly seemed optimistic of a verdict.
Yet the chaos continued.
Another note echoing the last came.
And on Friday, with the jury once again saying they were deadlocked, the judge told the court that he would declare a mistrial.
But Reddington – a 75-year-old veteran attorney who has emerged as feminist folk hero – wasn’t done yet.
The room fell silent as the jurors were about to be brought in. Then, he leaped to his feet one more time, requesting a stay so that he could file an appeal with the Supreme Judicial Court to oust the holdout juror. Exasperated, Judge Sullivan said he would give him an hour.
The attorney, who had comforted Clancy through the harrowing moments of the trial and always made time to chat to court officers, reporters and staff, was not going down without a fight.
Clancy’s lawyer fires warning shot at prosecution over retrial
But the writing was on the wall.
The justice denied the request and the mistrial was finally called.
Now, it’s down to Plymouth District Attorney Cruz whether or not to retry Clancy on first-degree murder charges.
Speaking outside being heckled by some of Clancy’s supporters, he said he would not announce any decision yet.
Reddington, meanwhile, insisted he is ready, vowing: ‘We’ll be back!’
Disclaimer: This story is fictional and created for entertainment purposes only.
Any names, characters, places, or events are fictitious or used fictitiously.
No real person or organization is intended to be portrayed.