A judge declared a mistrial Friday (September 4, 2026) after a jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict in the high-profile case of an American woman who killed her three young children.
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who → declare → children
Lindsay Clancy, 36, acknowledged strangling Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months, but claimed she should be excused from criminal responsibility because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.
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she → acknowledge → psychosis
After seven days of deliberations, the jury of nine women and three men was unable to reach a unanimous decision, as required in criminal proceedings in the United States.
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jury → reach → States
11 jurors were in favor of finding Clancy not guilty by reason of insanity, but they were opposed by a single holdout.
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they → find → holdout
“At this point, I’m going to declare that the jury is deadlocked, and I’m going to declare a mistrial,” Judge William Sullivan said.
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Sullivan → go → mistrial
Prosecutors must now decide whether to try the case again before a new jury.
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Prosecutors → decide → jury
“I’ll be making that decision shortly,” Tim Cruz, the Plymouth County, Massachusetts district attorney, told reporters.
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Cruz → make → reporters
Kevin Reddington, Ms. Clancy’s lawyer, said his client and the other members of the jury were let down by the man who declined to vote for an acquittal.
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who → say → acquittal
“They were robbed by one man for whatever his agenda was,” Mr. Reddington told reporters.
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Reddington → rob → reporters
“I hope that guy can sleep well at night.”
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guy → hope → night
Ms. Clancy will remain at a psychiatric institution pending a possible new trial.
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Clancy → remain → trial
Her televised trial, which featured more than 80 witnesses and days of distressing testimony, has sparked debate in the United States over maternal mental health and drew a reaction on Friday (September 4) from President Donald Trump.
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which → televise → Trump
“It’s a horrible tragedy,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House.
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Trump → ’ → House
“I assume there’s going to be another trial.”
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I → assume → ?
Ms. Clancy pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, saying she heard a voice ordering her to kill her children.
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she → plead → children
Her lawyers said this was caused by postpartum psychosis, a condition that medical experts say affects about one to two women in every 1,000 births.
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experts → say → births
Prosecutors rejected that argument, saying Ms. Clancy had carefully planned the murders of her children and was able to understand the consequences of her actions.
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Clancy → reject → actions
Psychiatrists and people close to Ms. Clancy, as well as her ex-husband, were among the witnesses who testified about her fragile mental health.
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who → testify → health
Dozens of women dressed in pink showed up at the court in Plymouth to extend their support for Ms. Clancy, and to make a statement about women’s health more generally.
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Dozens → dress → health
During closing arguments, Mr. Reddington said Lindsay Clancy had made numerous pleas for help before the killings but had received “lousy medical care” from the doctors she consulted.
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she → close → doctors
After the murders at the family home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in January 2023, Ms. Clancy cut her neck and wrists and jumped from a second-story window in an apparent suicide attempt that has left her paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair.
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that → cut → wheelchair
The former nurse faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if found guilty of first-degree murder.
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nurse → face → murder
Jurors were also given the option of finding Ms. Clancy guilty of second-degree murder, manslaughter, or not guilty by lack of criminal responsibility, a verdict that would see her confined to a psychiatric facility.
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her → give → facility
The trial has revived memories of a similar case that also captivated the country 25 years ago, that of Andrea Yates, a Texas mother who drowned her five children in 2001.
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who → revive → 2001
Yates was initially convicted and sentenced to life in prison, but she was found not guilty by reason of insanity at a 2006 retrial and committed to a psychiatric hospital.
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she → convict → hospital
The Aporia
