Jury in Lindsay Clancy trial sent home for the day after judge orders them to continue deliberations for third time

The jury in the Lindsay Clancy trial have been sent home for the day after the judge told them to continue deliberations for the third time.

The jury of nine women and five men have spent almost 40 hours deliberating Clancy's case but are yet to come to a unanimous verdict.

In court today (3 September), the deadlocked jury once again handed Judge William Sullivan a note, after which he brought each juror in and questioned each of them individually in private.

The judge then read the rules of reasonable doubt to the jury before sending them away to resume their deliberations for a third time.

Shortly afterwards, the jury were called back in and dismissed for the day.

They will return tomorrow at 9am local time when they will once again aim to reach a unanimous verdict.

The jury in the Lindsay Clancy case are still deadlocked (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Yesterday, Judge Sullivan issued a ‘Tuey-Rodriguez’ charge - or dynamite charge - which is used to encourage a jury to come to a decision.

He told them: "You have been selected in the same manner, and from the same source, as any future jury would be.

"There is no reason to suppose that the case will ever be submitted to twelve persons who are more intelligent, more impartial, or more competent to decide it or that more or clearer evidence will be produced."

However, despite spending several hours today deliberating it seems as though the jury still can't agree.

The case centres on Clancy, a former nurse, who killed her three children - Cora, five, Dawson, three, and eight-month-old Callan - in January 2023.

Her defence team has not denied that she carried out the killings but say she wasn’t criminally responsible at the time as she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and severe mental illness.

The prosecution argued that Clancy planned out the killings and knew right from wrong in the moment.

The jury sat through testimony from 80 witnesses and were shown 300 different exhibits across the five-week long trial, so deliberations were never expected to be quick.

The jury in the case have several options available to them: not guilty, not guilty by reason of insanity, first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter.

If the jury finds Clancy guilty, she will face life in prison.

If found not guilty, she’ll be sent to a psychiatric hospital for an undetermined amount of time.

The jury heard from 80 witnesses (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

However, they must come to a unanimous decision as Massachusetts law doesn't allow a majority jury verdict.

If the jury still cannot reach a verdict the judge can declare a mistrial and the trial will end with no decision.

If this were to happen, the case essentially goes back to the same status it was at before the trial began, meaning Clancy will be charged with three-counts of murder and held at a psychiatric facility.

At that point, prosecutors have a couple of options open to them.

The most likely option in this case, is that prosecutors would bring a new trial with a different jury.

Clancy's defence lawyer Kevin Reddington has previously said his client wouldn't be able to handle a second trial.

They may also offer a plea deal to Clancy.

But, prosecutors could also choose not to retry the case.

This option is typically chosen if the cost to retry is high and the risk of the same outcome is also high.

Clancy’s defence team would most likely lobby against a retrial.