Defendant Lindsay Clancy watches jurors enter the courtroom, as the jury resumes deliberations, in Plymouth Superior Court, in Plymouth, Massachusetts, U.S. [Photo Credit: Reuters]

A judge declared a mistrial on Friday in the U.S. murder trial of Lindsay Clancy for killing her three young children, a tragedy her attorney said ​occurred while she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.

The nearly six-week-long televised trial in Plymouth, Massachusetts, revived a longstanding debate about how postpartum mental health in women is treated in the U.S., and how the ‌country’s legal system addresses cases when mothers kill their children.

Judge William Sullivan’s mistrial declaration came after jurors sent several notes this week indicating they were deadlocked. The mistrial opened the door for a potential retrial, though Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz said his office had not decided whether to pursue one.

No one disputed that Clancy, 36, strangled her three children with exercise bands in January 2023 in the basement of their home in the Boston suburb of Duxbury. She then cut herself ​with a knife and jumped from a second-story window in an attempt to take her own life that left her paralyzed.

Her attorney, Kevin Reddington, sought throughout the trial to convince jurors she should be found not guilty ​by reason of insanity, arguing she was a loving mother who had been in the midst of a psychotic episode when she killed Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and 8-month-old Callan.

Clancy ⁠would face a life sentence if she is retried and convicted of murder. If found not guilty by reason of insanity, she would be committed to a state psychiatric hospital for evaluation. Her commitment would then be subject to regular ​review by the court.

In a sign of how closely the U.S. public followed the trial, President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office he was aware of the case and said he assumed there would be another trial.

Clancy, who remains in custody at a state hospital, is due in court for a follow-up hearing on September 29.

Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, Reddington framed the mistrial as a win for the defense and said Clancy would be ready for another trial should prosecutors pursue one.
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He blamed the mistrial on a holdout juror who he said prevented the other 11 jurors from ​reaching a not-guilty verdict.

Earlier on Friday, the seventh day of deliberations, Reddington asked Sullivan to ​remove the juror. He cited a note the jury foreperson sent on behalf of 11 jurors indicating that one juror had acknowledged doubt but refused to apply it to the verdict.

Jurors could only find Clancy guilty of first-degree murder if the prosecution proved its ‌case beyond a ⁠reasonable doubt.

Sullivan rejected the request. Reddington then asked Massachusetts’ highest court to order Sullivan to inquire further into whether the holdout juror could heed the judge’s instructions to follow the law. The top court denied his emergency appeal, paving the way for the mistrial declaration.