Social media is Lindsay Clancy wild card that could tilt potential retrial to the defense, retired judge says
If Lindsay Clancy's murder trial ends in a mistrial, her defense could hold an unusual advantage in a retrial, a retired Massachusetts Superior Court judge says, as jurors reported for a second time Wednesday that they remain deadlocked.
Clancy, 36, faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children — Cora, Dawson and Callan, all under age 6 — who were found strangled at the family's home in January 2023.
Judge William Sullivan gave jurors a Tuey-Rodriguez charge Wednesday afternoon after they reported for a second time that they were deadlocked, having first signaled they were stuck earlier in the week. The charge is given to a deadlocked jury to encourage they continue deliberations, but also to remind them to listen to one another without sacrificing their honestly held opinions.
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Sullivan declined to give the instruction earlier in the week when jurors first reported difficulty agreeing, opting instead to simply send them back.
The jurors deliberating in Clancy's murder trial are discussing several options, which include first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary or involuntary manslaughter, not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility (insanity) or not guilty.
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Retired Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Jack Lu told Fox News Digital that a retrial after a mistrial has traditionally favored the prosecution, but that social media has upended that conventional wisdom.
"In the past, the conventional wisdom was that the prosecution is more likely to win on a retrial after a hung jury. Now it's different... The new conventional wisdom is question mark because of social media infected trials," Lu said.
Lu pointed to Karen Read's case, the Massachusetts woman who was tried twice in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend. Her case drew a massive amount of social media interest, which he said had a major impact on her trials. In 2024, jurors deadlocked in Read's trial, and she was acquitted at her retrial in 2025.
"In the Karen Read case, the social media abuse was at a slow boil in the first trial. At the second trial, it just all erupted," Lu said.
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Lu himself said he's no longer on social media because "it's too abusive an environment."
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While Reddington himself said he'd "absolutely" go to trial again if Sullivan declares a mistrial, he said Clancy couldn't emotionally handle another one.
"She had a flat affect, she’s sad," he said on Tuesday to reporters.
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A GoFundMe for Clancy's parents, the Musgrove family, has surpassed $830,000, though it's unclear who would fund her defense in a retrial, or whether Reddington would charge for it.
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Wednesday marks the second time the Clancy jury reported they've been unable to reach a unanimous decision.
In a note sent to Sullivan on Tuesday, jurors said that "after many hours of deliberation, we are unable to come to a unanimous decision." He directed them to resume their work.
WATCH: Lindsay Clancy case jurors instructed to resume deliberations for a sixth day
"I brought you back out because I know that this was a long trial. All right, I know there were over 80 witnesses. There were over 300 exhibits. Because of that, I'm going to ask you to go back out, keeping in mind all of the instructions that I gave you to go out and to continue your deliberations at this time. All right. And so, with that, I'm going to ask you to go back out. Like I said, keep in mind the instructions I gave you reviewing the evidence, and I'd ask you to resume your deliberations at this time," Sullivan said.
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If jurors return once more to say they are still deadlocked, Lu said, the case will likely end in a mistrial.
"I'm afraid so, with limited exceptions, it would end up being a mistrial, a true hung jury, deadlocked jury," Lu said.
Jurors will return Thursday to continue deliberations for a sixth day, having already spent more than 28 hours weighing a verdict.