Lindsay Clancy trial tensions flare as judge declines to remove holdout juror

A judge has again told the deadlocked jury in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial to keep trying to reach a verdict after a dramatic sixth day of deliberations in a case that has gripped America.

Tensions flared in court after the jury forewoman sent the judge a note saying one juror would not follow the court’s instructions on reasonable doubt.

The defence team asked for the holdout to be removed, a request that was denied by the judge.

Clancy, 36, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her three children – Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan – at her Massachusetts family home on 24 January 2023.

Warning: This article contains distressing details

The former labour and delivery nurse does not deny strangling her two sons and daughter in the basement of their house.

But her lawyer argues she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time, and could not distinguish right from wrong.

The jury of nine women and three men in Plymouth has deliberated for some 35 hours without a verdict.

The panel has twice previously sent the judge notes saying it could not come to a unanimous decision, but Thursday was the first hint of rancour in the deliberation room.

Clancy’s lawyer, Kevin Reddington, said in court that the jury forewoman had sent another note, this one complaining to Judge William Sullivan that a juror was refusing to listen to the law on reasonable doubt.

Reddington and prosecutor Jennifer Sprague had an animated discussion with the judge in court.

Reporters in the room could not hear the exchange, but the BBC saw exasperated facial expressions and gestures from Clancy’s attorney.

Then Judge Sullivan brought in each juror individually and questioned them.

He reminded the panel they must unanimously believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty in order to convict her of a crime.