Lindsay Clancy verdict watch: Judge issues "dynamite charge" in last-ditch effort to avoid hung jury

Plymouth, Massachusetts - The jury in Lindsay Clancy's murder trial has once again told the presiding judge that they are deadlocked after five days of deliberation.

The judge presiding over Lindsay Clancy's (r) murder trial employed a "dynamite charge" in a last-ditch effort to avoid a hung jury.
The judge presiding over Lindsay Clancy's (r) murder trial employed a "dynamite charge" in a last-ditch effort to avoid a hung jury.  © Collage: via REUTERS

On Wednesday, the jury told Judge William Sullivan that they could not reach a unanimous verdict – just as they did on Tuesday.

Per The New York Times, the judge employed what is referred to as a "dynamite charge" to send them back into further deliberations in the hopes of avoiding a hung jury.

"You should consider that it is desirable that the case be decided, and that you have been selected in the same manner and from the same source from which any future jury would be," the judge said in his final instruction.

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If the jury cannot reach a decision, a mistrial will likely be called, thus sending the case back to its pre-trial status.

Earlier this week, Clancy's attorney, Kevin Reddington, said he would "absolutely" go to trial again if that scenario plays out.

Clancy is on trial for the murders of her three children in January 2023. She does not deny having committed the killings, with her legal team instead arguing that she is not criminally responsible due to extreme postpartum psychosis.

She faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if found guilty of first-degree murder, but if found not guilty by lack of criminal responsibility, she would be committed to a psychiatric facility.

Deliberations had been rocked earlier in the day by the arraignment of a woman who had been arrested outside of the courthouse on Tuesday.

The woman, 56-year-old Dawn Light, had reportedly been taking photos and videos of jurors as they exited the courthouse and was charged with intimidating a juror. She was ultimately released on personal recognizance bail.

Cover photo: Collage: via REUTERS

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