PLYMOUTH, Mass. — Lindsay Clancy’s murder jury entered a seventh day of deliberations Friday morning, Sept. 4, 2026, at Plymouth Superior Court, and the fight over an apparent holdout juror spilled into open court again. Defense attorney Kevin Reddington renewed his push to remove the juror; Judge William F. Sullivan refused further questioning or removal, then reinstructed the panel and sent them back out, the Boston Globe reported from the live blog.

Thursday’s foreperson note had told the court that a single juror was blocking a verdict and would not follow instructions on reasonable doubt. On Friday, Reddington told Sullivan the holdout had “lied” to the judge’s face during Thursday’s individual interviews and said, per the Globe, “This person will not apply reasonable doubt to the evidence.” He argued a defendant is “entitled to have a juror who is true to their oath.”

Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague asked that jurors keep deliberating. The note, she said, shows “a disagreement” on “how to weigh the evidence, and that’s deliberation,” according to the Globe. Sullivan sided with continuing the work of the jury. “I see no showing for the need of an inquiry of this particular juror,” he said from the bench. He said he would remind jurors they must follow the law “whether they like it or not.”

When Reddington pressed for a “forceful” reinstruction on reasonable doubt, Sullivan shot back in exasperation: “What do you want me to do, get a brass band?” He also said he would try to deliver the charge “with more pizazz, I suppose,” and noted he had already read the Supreme Judicial Court reasonable-doubt language Thursday — “I’m not an actor,” the Globe quoted him saying.

Sullivan then reinstructed the panel in open court: “I want to remind you, as I instructed you earlier, it’s your duty as jurors to accept the law as I stated,” he said. “You may not ignore any instruction.” He also told jurors future notes should not describe how members are lined up in deliberations. By mid-morning Friday the jury had spent about 37 hours weighing whether Clancy is criminally responsible. Earlier Friday, Reddington filed an emergency motion seeking a standing order against further sidebars so remaining proceedings stay in open court.

Clancy, 36, is charged with murdering her children — Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months — in their Duxbury home in January 2023. She has pleaded not guilty and asserts an insanity defense centered on postpartum psychosis; she remains paralyzed from the waist down and appears in a wheelchair. Jurors may consider first-degree murder, second-degree murder, manslaughter, not guilty, or not guilty by lack of criminal responsibility. The panel has twice reported deadlock this week; Sullivan previously delivered a Tuey-Rodriguez “dynamite” charge. A mistrial, if declared, would leave any retrial decision to Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz. For Thursday’s wrap, see our day-6 update.

Sources