The Japan Times - Jury ends second day without verdict in Lindsay Clancy murder trial

The jury in Lindsay Clancy's murder trial ended a second day of deliberations without a verdict and was sent home for the weekend.

The nine women and three men are not sequestered. Judge Sullivan told them not to discuss the case and ordered proceedings to resume at 9am on Monday.

Clancy, a 36-year-old former labour-and-delivery nurse, has admitted strangling her children Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months, with exercise bands at the family's home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in January 2023. She has pleaded not guilty.

Jurors may find her guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter, or not guilty by reason of insanity. A murder conviction could result in life imprisonment without parole. A finding that she lacked criminal responsibility would lead to commitment at a state mental-health facility, with any future release dependent on her condition.

The defence says Clancy was experiencing postpartum depression and psychosis after being prescribed at least 13 psychiatric medications. Prosecutors contend that she remained in control and deliberately planned the killings. Clancy and her former husband, Patrick, have filed a medical-malpractice lawsuit against members of her former care team.

State psychiatrist Dr Avram Mack testified that Clancy told him she heard a male voice instructing her to kill the children and herself. He said she told each child to go to God while strangling them. Mack concluded that she was criminally responsible, while defence experts presented a contrary assessment.

After more than three weeks of testimony and closing arguments from both sides, the jury began deliberating among the competing accounts of Clancy's mental state at the time of the deaths.

T.Ikeda--JT