Judge weighs whether Lindsay Clancy faces a new murder trial
What’s next: A ruling on double jeopardy could clear the way for a retrial or force prosecutors to rethink the case.
A Massachusetts judge is weighing whether Lindsay Clancy can be tried again on charges she killed her three children, after her first trial ended in a mistrial with a deadlocked jury. At a hearing in Plymouth on Monday, defense lawyer Martin Weinberg argued Judge William Sullivan ended deliberations too soon in September and that a second trial would violate constitutional protections against double jeopardy. Prosecutors countered that the lone holdout juror was deliberating, even if he would not agree with the others, and that questioning him risked improper pressure. Sullivan did not rule from the bench. Prosecutors have not publicly decided whether to pursue another first-degree murder trial, seek lesser charges or drop the case.