Lindsay Clancy’s defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, says that the one juror he claims has refused to follow the court’s instructions and should be removed has been identified, and there will be some sort of inquiry Friday morning.
After jurors were dismissed following the sixth day of deliberations in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, Reddington said outside court that the lone juror will be questioned by the judge.
Reddington said he didn’t know what the questions would entail, but he thinks it will be in open court, not at sidebar.
The jury is continuing to weigh whether Clancy is criminally responsible for her actions in the deaths of her three children in Duxbury in January 2023,
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Thursday afternoon, the jury’s foreperson sent Judge Sullivan a note saying a single juror won’t follow the court’s instructions about reasonable doubt, according to Reddington. The defense and prosecution were then brought into an extended sidebar session- including, for the first time in the trial, Clancy herself.
Sullivan, after receiving the jury’s note, brought in each juror individually and questioned them in private.
The judge then reread his instructions on reasonable doubt before sending them back to continue deliberating.
An incensed Reddington called for the juror to be removed and an alternate put in their place.
“The court has an instruction from the foreperson of that jury that’s been working for a week now, saying that there’s one juror who refuses to listen to the law that you’ve given him or her on reasonable doubt,” Reddington said.
“If we come back here in a half an hour with a mistrial because of a because of a juror that has just spurned the instructions of this court, it’s a shame. It’s a real shame,” Reddington continued, pleading his case to the judge.
Sullivan said removing a deliberating juror is a sensitive undertaking.
“I don’t feel it is proper for me to side with one side or the other of the deliberations,” the judge said. “I don’t feel it’s appropriate for me to say, ‘I agree with one juror or the 11.’ I have asked if they are able to follow my instructions. They swore earlier that they could.”
Around half an hour after tasking the jurors to keep deliberating, the jurors were sent home for the day. Court will be back in session Friday morning.
Reddington says the foreperson of the jury has identified the juror in question.
Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague said in court that she believed Judge William Sullivan’s instruction was appropriate and no further action was necessary.
The latest twist in the high-profile trial comes after jurors have twice told the judge they remain unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
If the jury ultimately can’t agree on a verdict, the judge could declare a mistrial. Prosecutors would then have to decide whether to put Clancy on trial again, drop the charges or try to negotiate a plea deal with her lawyer.
If the jury decides Clancy was criminally responsible for her actions, it could convict her of either murder or manslaughter. If she is acquitted, a judge could still order her confined to a mental health facility if an evaluation determines that she poses a danger to the public.
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