Lindsay Clancy is due back in a Massachusetts courtroom on Monday as a judge considers whether to dismiss the murder case against her or schedule a second trial following a jury deadlock.
Clancy is accused of killing her three children. Her first trial ended in a mistrial this summer after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict.
At a September hearing, Judge William Sullivan told prosecutors and defence lawyers that he wanted to move the case towards another trial without compromising the rights of either side.
The judge is expected to hear arguments on several post-trial motions on Monday, including Clancy’s request to dismiss the case and a prosecution request for a gag order ahead of a possible retrial.
Clancy’s lawyers, Martin Weinberg and Kevin Reddington, argue that the judge failed to properly investigate whether the juror who disagreed with the majority followed the court’s instructions on the law.
They contend that the judge should not have declared a mistrial and that retrying Clancy after an improperly ended trial would violate her protection against double jeopardy.
Prosecutors from the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office maintain that the mistrial was properly declared after the jury reported being deadlocked twice.
They argue that further questioning of the dissenting juror could have amounted to judicial pressure and improperly interfered with the privacy of jury deliberations.
The prosecution also said the jury foreperson’s notes about the deadlock did not indicate that the dissenting juror was influenced by personal issues, bias or outside interference.
Neither the prosecution nor the defence has firmly committed to retrying the case. Both sides have indicated they want the judge to rule on the pending motions before deciding their next steps.
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