On Friday, President Donald Trump weighed in on the mistrial result in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial, the case that has captivated headlines across the nation and put a spotlight on postpartum health.
“It’s a shame; it’s a horrible tragedy. It’s a terrible situation. Look, she did a horrible, horrible thing. Can’t be worse,” President Trump commented from the Oval Office. “But you’ll find out what the price to pay is. There’ll be a price. It’s gonna be a mental institution or jail or something. But I guess they’re gonna go through another trial. It’s too bad.”
The deliberations took a dramatic turn late in the week when Judge Sullivan said he was going to declare a mistrial Friday before suddenly changing course and giving defense attorney Kevin Reddington a chance to appeal to the highest court in Massachusetts. The emergency appeal was quickly denied.
Prosecutors said Clancy acted deliberately when she strangled her kids on Jan. 24, 2023, before trying to take her own life. They pointed to how she contrived to get her husband out of the house by sending him to pick up medicine for one of their children and dinner for the family, and questioned the seriousness of her suicide attempt.
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Over 21 days of testimony, jurors heard how Clancy’s mental health had collapsed after Callan’s birth.
Judge Sullivan Friday morning ruled that he was going to declare a mistrial after the jurors returned with a third note, explaining that they still could not come to a consensus.
Reddington then went back and forth with Judge Sullivan before the judge allowed the defense attorney an hour to get a SJC justice to intervene.
“What I’m asking for is time to file a single-justice appeal for this travesty,” Reddington said.
A SJC hearing took place at 1:30 p.m. Friday but the state’s top court refused to stand in Judge Sullivan’s way of declaring a mistrial.
Friday’s dramatic outcome followed a stunning day in court Thursday after the jury’s foreperson told the judge that a single juror wouldn’t follow the court’s instructions about reasonable doubt.
Reddington pleaded for the judge to question the juror and pushed for the judge to replace the potential holdout juror with an alternate, but Judge Sullivan said a juror may be discharged only for reasons personal to that juror.
District Attorney Tim Cruz can now retry Clancy for the alleged murder of her three kids. Parties in court discussed a potential retrial occurring as soon as this fall but Cruz was noncommittal to a specific timeline outside court Friday.
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