A Massachusetts jury weighing Lindsay Clancy’s fate remained deadlocked after days of deliberations, prompting Judge William F. Sullivan to issue a formal instruction commonly called a “dynamite charge.” The 36-year-old former nurse is charged in connection with the January 2023 deaths of her three children, Cora, Dawson and Callan. Her defense does not dispute that she caused their deaths but argues she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and was not criminally responsible at the time. Prosecutors have taken the opposite position, saying Clancy understood right from wrong and had planned her actions. After jurors again reported they could not reach a unanimous decision, Sullivan delivered the Tuey-Rodriguez instruction, urging them to listen carefully to one another and continue discussing the evidence with open minds.

The case followed a five-week trial involving extensive testimony and hundreds of exhibits, and Massachusetts law requires a unanimous verdict. Jurors may consider several outcomes, including first-degree murder, second-degree murder, manslaughter, acquittal, or a finding of not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility. If the panel remains unable to agree even after the judge’s additional instruction, a mistrial could be declared. That would end this trial without a final verdict and could leave prosecutors deciding whether to pursue a new trial, negotiate another resolution, or take a different course. For now, the jury has been told to continue deliberating, leaving one of the state’s watched criminal cases unresolved as attorneys, families, and observers wait to learn whether further discussions can finally produce agreement.