PLYMOUTH, Mass. — After jurors in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial told the court for a second time that they could not reach a unanimous verdict, Judge William Sullivan delivered a Tuey-Rodriguez instruction, urging them to continue deliberating and make every effort to reach a decision.
As deliberations stretched into a fifth day, legal analyst and Boston criminal defense attorney Elyse Hershon said the judge’s instruction represents one of the final tools available to encourage a deadlocked jury to keep working toward a verdict.
“The judge does not tell the jury this is your last opportunity to deliberate,” Hershon explained during an appearance on Boston 25 News. “The judge simply gives the instruction and sends them back to continue deliberating.”
A Tuey-Rodriguez instruction is a standard Massachusetts legal charge given when a jury reports it cannot agree. The instruction encourages jurors to keep discussing the case, carefully consider one another’s viewpoints, and attempt to reach a unanimous verdict without abandoning sincerely held beliefs.
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Can the instruction break the deadlock?
According to Hershon, the key question is whether the latest instruction persuades one or more jurors to reconsider their position.
“They’ve now been encouraged by the judge multiple times to come to a unanimous verdict,” Hershon said. “There is clearly someone, or a few people, holding out on one side or the other. It could also be a more significant split.”
Whether that changes remains unclear.
“Will this instruction make one or two of them move? Will that make a difference for unanimity? We don’t know,” she said.
The jury could return with a verdict later Wednesday, continue deliberating into Thursday, or ultimately report that it still can’t reach a unanimous decision.
Jurors shouldn’t feel pressured to compromise
While some trial watchers may view the judge’s latest instruction as a sign that a verdict is imminent, Hershon cautioned against assuming jurors must reach an agreement.
“People watch television and movies and think, ‘Okay, we can just be a hung jury, we don’t have to come to a unanimous decision,’” Hershon said.
At the same time, she emphasized that jurors shouldn’t surrender their convictions simply because they feel pressure to end deliberations.
“If both sides are standing strong in their convictions and where they are, and it’s not unanimous, you have to have faith that they’ll come back and not just concede because of the pressure,” she said. “That’s the last thing that you want them to do.”
Verdict still uncertain
Jurors are weighing whether Clancy is criminally responsible for the January 2023 deaths of her three children, Cora, Dawson, and Callan Clancy.
The defense argues Clancy was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis and was not criminally responsible for her actions. Prosecutors contend she knowingly planned and carried out the killings.
For now, Hershon said, the only certainty is that jurors are taking their responsibility seriously.
“No doubt this jury is working hard,” she said.
The jury remains in deliberations.
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