Judge in Lindsay Clancy trial gives defense 1 hour to appeal before declaring mistrial

PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Lindsay Clancy's trial judge said he was going to declare a mistrial Friday before suddenly changing course and giving her defense attorney one hour to appeal. Judge William Sullivan’s stunning move came after he announced in court that jurors on Friday sent a note for a third time saying they couldn't unanimously decide whether to hold her criminally responsible for killing her three young children in 2023.

Deliberations took a dramatic turn Thursday when the foreperson told the judge that a lone holdout was refusing to follow the court’s instructions about reasonable doubt. Clancy’s defense has argued that the judge’s refusal to remove the juror undermines the trial.

Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse, doesn’t deny strangling her children in the basement of their home. Defense attorney Kevin Reddington blamed postpartum psychosis. Prosecutors said she knew what she was doing.

Postpartum psychosis is estimated to afflict 1 to 2 per 1,000 women after delivery. Experts at the Cleveland Clinic describe it as a mental health emergency affecting someone’s sense of reality. Though most people with postpartum psychosis don’t harm their children, mothers with severe cases may try to do so.

Here’s the latest:

Legal expert sees ‘structural defect’ in the trial.

Criminal defense attorney Joseph Krowski, who has been observing the trial, commented about Friday’s developments outside the court in Plymouth, Massachusetts. He said the defense wants a judge on the state’s highest court to consider an emergency stay because Reddington believes there “is a structural defect to this trial by the failure to remove the juror or do an inquiry.”

Here’s what the jury’s note read

Judge Sullivan read the jury foreperson’s note aloud in open court: “It is with a heavy heart that we report we are unable to come to a unanimous decision and will not be able to.”

Court is once again in recess, mistrial pending, as the defense appeals

Sullivan and Reddington went back and forth after the judge signaled that he would declare a mistrial and summon the jury to break the news.

Then the judge suddenly gave Clancy’s lawyer time to seek an appeal to stop his mistrial order.

“What I’m asking for is time to file a single-justice appeal for this travesty,” said Reddington, who was upset over Sullivan’s refusal to remove a juror.

“I’ll hold off for an hour,” the judge said.

The clock began around 11:30 a.m.

There was an audible gasp when the judge said he would declare a mistrial

Clancy’s parents, Paula and Mike Musgrove, and her sister, Allison Ozga, showed no reaction but stared straight ahead. Clancy’s expression wasn’t visible to the gallery.

The defense then raised objections and the jury was not brought in.