A single juror in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial is preventing the jury from reaching a unanimous verdict, her lawyer said in court Thursday, after deliberations extended into a sixth day on whether the Massachusetts woman should be convicted of killing her three young children.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington made the statement shortly after the jury sent Judge William Sullivan in Plymouth, Massachusetts, a note that prompted him to redirect jurors on what would constitute “reasonable doubt.”
After the jury was returned for further deliberations, Reddington moved to remove a refusing juror, saying that a note from the jury foreman indicated that “there is one juror who refuses to listen to the law which I have presented to him or her upon reasonable doubt.”
“If we’re back here in a half-hour with a mistrial because of a juror who just rejected this court’s instructions, that’s a disgrace,” Reddington told the judge, who refused to impeach the juror.
The jury sent Sullivan a note the day before saying: “After much deliberation, we are still unable to reach a unanimous decision.” They sent a similar note on Tuesday. But on both days, the judge ordered them to continue deliberations.
If the jury doesn’t reach a verdict and Sullivan declares a mistrial, prosecutors will have to decide whether to retry the case, which involved more than 80 witnesses and more than 300 exhibits.
