Why the Judge Could Ask Clancy Jurors to Keep Trying
The Lindsay Clancy murder trial has reached a critical point after jurors told the judge they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict, raising the possibility of a special jury instruction known as a Tuey-Rodriguez charge.
The instruction could become an important next step if Plymouth Superior Court Judge William Sullivan determines that the jury has reached a genuine impasse after extensive deliberations. As of Tuesday, however, Sullivan had not yet delivered the Tuey-Rodriguez instruction. Instead, he directed jurors to continue deliberating.
The legal procedure has drawn attention because of its role in Massachusetts cases where jurors appear to be deadlocked. It is designed to encourage jurors to continue discussing the evidence and attempt to reach a unanimous decision without abandoning their individual responsibilities.
What does “Tuey-Rodriguez” mean?
A Tuey-Rodriguez charge is a Massachusetts jury instruction generally used when jurors report that they cannot agree on a verdict after thorough deliberations.
It is sometimes described as a “dynamite charge” because it is intended to break a deadlock and send jurors back into deliberations. The instruction emphasizes the importance of reaching a decision if that can be accomplished through further discussion and careful consideration of the evidence.
The instruction does not legally require a juror to change his or her position. Jurors remain obligated to follow their own judgment and the law. The purpose is instead to encourage them to listen to one another, reconsider their views where appropriate and determine whether further deliberation could produce agreement.
That distinction is especially important in a case such as Clancy's, where the central dispute involves competing interpretations of extensive evidence.
Why is the charge being discussed now?
The Clancy jury has spent several days reviewing the evidence before telling the court it could not reach a unanimous verdict.
The jury has heard testimony from more than 80 witnesses and reviewed hundreds of exhibits during a trial that has lasted weeks. The evidence has included testimony concerning Clancy's mental health, psychiatric treatment, medications, internet activity, cellphone data and the circumstances surrounding the deaths of her three children.
Clancy's defense does not dispute that she killed her children. Instead, her attorneys have argued that she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis and therefore was not criminally responsible for her actions.
Prosecutors have presented a fundamentally different interpretation. They have argued that Clancy understood what she was doing and deliberately carried out the killings, pointing to evidence they say demonstrates planning and awareness.
Those competing interpretations create a difficult question for jurors: whether Clancy's mental state legally excuses her conduct or whether she should be held criminally responsible.
What would the judge tell the jury?
If Judge Sullivan eventually gives the Tuey-Rodriguez instruction, the message would essentially be that the jurors should make every reasonable effort to reach a unanimous verdict.
The jurors would be encouraged to carefully reconsider their own positions while also giving appropriate consideration to the views of their fellow jurors.
The instruction is not supposed to tell jurors which verdict to choose. Nor is it supposed to establish that the majority should pressure a minority into surrendering its position.
Instead, it seeks to promote further discussion and compromise where that compromise is consistent with each juror's honest judgment of the evidence and the law.
This is why the instruction is particularly significant in a case where jurors may be divided over dramatically different conclusions about Clancy's mental state.
Does a Tuey-Rodriguez charge guarantee a verdict?
No.
A Tuey-Rodriguez instruction can result in a jury returning to deliberations and eventually reaching a verdict, but it does not guarantee unanimity.
A prominent example came during the first Karen Read trial in Massachusetts. After jurors reported an impasse, Judge Beverly Cannone gave a Tuey-Rodriguez instruction and sent the jury back to deliberate. The jurors subsequently remained unable to reach agreement, resulting in a mistrial.
That history is one reason the possibility of the same instruction in the Clancy case has attracted considerable attention.
What happens if Clancy's jury remains deadlocked?
If jurors remain unable to reach a unanimous verdict after additional deliberations, the judge could ultimately determine that the jury is hopelessly deadlocked and declare a mistrial.
That would mean the current trial ended without a verdict. It would not be the same as an acquittal.
A mistrial caused by a genuinely deadlocked jury can allow prosecutors to pursue another trial, because the case has not resulted in a final acquittal. The precise consequences would depend on the circumstances and subsequent decisions by prosecutors and the court.
For now, however, the Clancy case has not reached that stage.
What verdicts are possible in the Clancy case?
The jury's task is not simply to decide whether Clancy killed her children. That fact is essentially undisputed.
Instead, jurors must determine her criminal responsibility and the appropriate legal classification of her conduct.
Possible outcomes include findings involving first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter, as well as a finding that Clancy is not criminally responsible because of her mental condition.
A finding of not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility would also not necessarily mean that Clancy simply walks out of court. Massachusetts law provides mechanisms for psychiatric confinement in cases involving a finding of lack of criminal responsibility.
Why the Clancy case is unusually difficult
The case has become one of the most closely watched criminal trials in Massachusetts because it combines a devastating crime with an unusually complicated dispute over mental illness.
Clancy was a former labor and delivery nurse and mother of three. Prosecutors and defense attorneys have presented sharply different accounts of her psychological condition in the period leading up to the January 2023 killings.
Her defense has emphasized postpartum psychosis, psychiatric treatment and medications, arguing that her perception of reality was severely impaired.
The prosecution, meanwhile, has emphasized evidence it says demonstrates planning, awareness and deliberate conduct.
The jury therefore faces a question that goes beyond determining what happened: What was Clancy's mental state when the killings occurred, and does that mental state satisfy the legal standard for criminal responsibility?
The jury's next steps could determine the case
For the moment, Judge Sullivan has chosen to give the jury more time rather than immediately issue the Tuey-Rodriguez instruction.
That decision keeps the case alive and gives jurors another opportunity to examine the evidence and attempt to resolve their disagreement.
If they eventually reach unanimity, the case will proceed to a verdict.
If they remain divided, the judge could consider the Massachusetts deadlock procedure, including a Tuey-Rodriguez instruction, before determining whether further deliberations are productive.
The key point is that a Tuey-Rodriguez charge is not a verdict and not an order forcing jurors to agree. It is a judicial effort to encourage a divided jury to continue the deliberative process and determine whether a unanimous decision remains possible.
With the Clancy jury already reporting that it cannot agree, the next hours of deliberation could determine whether the case ends with a verdict or moves closer to a potential mistrial.
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