Commonwealth v. Clancy

 2383CR00198 · Plymouth Superior

Commonwealth v. Clancy, September 2, 2026

WednesdayreporteddeliberationsDay 26 of 28

In a fifth day of deliberating, the jury told Judge Sullivan for a second time it could not reach a unanimous decision. He read them the Tuey-Rodriguez charge, urging one final attempt before a mistrial. Jurors continued until being sent home around 4 p.m. with no verdict and return Thursday.

Key points
  • OUTSIDE THE COURTHOUSE WEDNESDAY MORNING, DEFENSE ATTORNEY KEVIN REDDINGTON CALLED THE CONTINUED DELIBERATIONS “very heartening.” “The fact that they have not said that they’re done is very, very heartening,” he told reporters. “They’re obviously working very hard... They kept at it. I think they’re showing that they’re more than willing to keep working at it.” Asked whether the impasse favored the defense, he cautioned against reading a sign into it either way: “I don’t know that it’s a good sign or a bad sign or any sign. It’s that they’re working hard to try to come to a decision.” Boston Globe, September 2, 8:00 a.m.
  • REDDINGTON ALSO SAID CLANCY IS NOT EMOTIONALLY PREPARED FOR A POTENTIAL RETRIAL. Asked whether his client was ready to go through the case again if the jury could not reach a verdict, he said, “No.” He again described her as showing little emotion: “She doesn’t have a mindset. She just listens and sits there and I try to let her know what’s going on, but she has a very flat affect.” CNN, September 2, 8:47 a.m.
  • SULLIVAN QUESTIONED ALL EIGHTEEN JURORS INDIVIDUALLY BEFORE DELIBERATIONS RESUMED, a day after a Sutton woman was arrested outside the courthouse on a witness and juror intimidation charge; CNN's reporters in the courtroom could not hear the exchanges. Boston Globe, September 2, 9:13 and 9:17 a.m.; CNN, September 2, 9:24 a.m.
  • THE JURY GOES INTO A FIFTH DAY WITH ABOUT TWENTY-THREE HOURS BEHIND IT. CNN put Tuesday's session at about six hours, bringing the panel's total across the first four days to roughly twenty-three, with no verdict returned on any of the three counts. CNN, September 1, 3:32 p.m.
  • REDDINGTON, ASKED ABOUT WEDNESDAY'S SESSION BEFORE COURT OPENED, WOULD NOT PREDICT AN OUTCOME. “We'll see what they do today. They've been obviously incredibly hardworking, and we'll see how it works out today,” he said. Boston.com, September 2, 9:09 a.m.
  • A VERDICT AFTER THE TUEY-RODRIGUEZ CHARGE IS RARE BUT NOT UNHEARD OF. The Boston Globe cited the 2024 murder conviction of Emanuel Lopes, whose jury returned a verdict after receiving the charge twice, following a mistrial in an earlier trial for the same case. Boston Globe, September 2, 2:30 p.m.
  • THE CHARGE HAS ALSO PRECEDED A MISTRIAL RATHER THAN A VERDICT. CNN, explaining the Tuey-Rodriguez instruction — known nationally as an Allen charge — noted that the judge in Karen Read's first murder trial read it to a deadlocked jury in 2024, after which that jury still could not reach a verdict and a mistrial was declared. CNN, September 2, 2:41 p.m.
  • CNN REPORTED ON WHAT WOULD FOLLOW A MISTRIAL, CITING LEGAL ANALYSTS: prosecutors would likely announce intent to retry the case, and Clancy would return to Tewksbury State Hospital, held without bail, until a new trial date; if prosecutors instead declined to retry, she would remain hospitalized until the district attorney's office dropped the charges, at which point she would be released. CNN, September 2, 2:33 p.m.
  • FORMER PALM BEACH COUNTY STATE ATTORNEY DAVE ARONBERG TOLD CNN THE JURY IS NOW IN “THE FOURTH QUARTER OF THE GAME”: having already received the Tuey-Rodriguez charge, Massachusetts law bars the judge from giving it again unless the jury consents, so a further deadlock would move the case toward a mistrial. CNN, September 2, 2:50 p.m.
  • MASSACHUSETTS LAW LIMITS HOW MANY TIMES A DEADLOCKED JURY CAN BE SENT BACK WITHOUT ITS CONSENT. The Boston Globe noted the statute holds that jurors who return a second time without a verdict "shall not be sent out again without their own consent, unless they ask from the court some further explanation of the law"; the panel has now reported deadlock twice, though Sullivan gave the Tuey-Rodriguez charge only after the second report. Boston Globe, September 2, 3:33 p.m.
  • A RECENTLY RETIRED SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE SAID THE TUEY-RODRIGUEZ CHARGE IS ORDINARILY GIVEN ONLY ONCE. Thomas Drechsler told the Boston Globe that while a judge keeps some discretion to fashion a further instruction depending on what a jury asks, the charge typically either produces a verdict or is followed by a mistrial. Boston Globe, September 2, 3:40 p.m.
  • A FORMER PROSECUTOR TOLD CNN HE EXPECTS THE CASE TO BE RETRIED IF IT ENDS IN A MISTRIAL. Mark Eiglarsh said the case is too high-profile for Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz not to pursue a second trial, arguing prosecutors have political reasons to avoid appearing to go easy on the charges. CNN, September 2, 3:35 p.m.
  • CNN SET THE JURY'S NEARLY THIRTY HOURS OF DELIBERATION AGAINST TWO OTHER CLOSELY WATCHED CASES. A Texas jury acquitted Andrea Yates, who drowned her five children, of capital murder on an insanity theory after about thirteen hours over three days, following an earlier conviction that was overturned for erroneous expert testimony; a Massachusetts jury acquitted Karen Read, tried in her boyfriend's death, after about twenty-one hours over four days, following a first trial that ended in a hung jury and mistrial. CNN, September 2, 4:44 p.m.
  • DEFENSE ATTORNEY KEVIN REDDINGTON TOLD REPORTERS AFTER JURORS LEFT THAT HE WAS “VERY PROUD” OF THE PANEL, calling their effort “a tribute to the system” and saying he would not be surprised whether they returned with a verdict or asked to stop. He said that if the case ends in a mistrial, he would try it again “next week.” He also said Clancy had been “upset” and “sad” that day, and that he does his best to keep her mind occupied when he talks with her. CNN, September 2, 4:48 p.m.
  • REDDINGTON, LEAVING THE COURTHOUSE LATER, SAID HE IS PREPARED TO RETRY THE CASE IMMEDIATELY IF THE JURY STAYS DEADLOCKED AND SULLIVAN DECLARES A MISTRIAL. “If they come back with a verdict, we’ll see what it is. If they don’t, we’re ready to try it next,” he told reporters, and when asked again said, “Ready right now.” He said he expects Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz to pursue first-degree murder charges again in a retrial. Boston Globe, September 2, 5:56 p.m.

Rulings and objections

Procedural

Sourcesglobe-day-25 cnn-day-25 globe-day-26 cnn-day-26 cbs-day-26 globe-dawnlight-charge boston-day-26 eastidaho-day-26 abc-day-26 nbcnews-day-26
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