Notorious Prosecutor Faces Impossible Choice After Jury Shocks Nation

Liberty Check

• Plymouth County DA Timothy Cruz, known for refusing plea deals, may be forced to reconsider after Lindsay Clancy’s mistrial ended in an alleged 11-1 jury split
• Veteran defense attorney says it’s now ‘conventional wisdom’ that prosecutors will never convince 12 jurors of first-degree murder
• One holdout juror reportedly couldn’t cite a single piece of evidence to support guilty verdict, according to fellow jurors

The Plymouth County district attorney prosecuting Lindsay Clancy has built a reputation for refusing to negotiate — but a veteran defense attorney who has worked against his office says this case may force an unprecedented exception.

Clancy, 36, faced three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children — Cora, Dawson and Callan, all under age 6 — who were found strangled at the family’s home in January 2023. Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial on Friday, Sept. 4, after jurors deadlocked in an alleged 11-1 divide.

Boston-based criminal defense attorney Peter Elikann, who has experience working against the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office, told reporters that the office is known for its reluctance to negotiate.

“Normally, the reputation of the Plymouth County DA’s office is that they don’t like to do deals as much as other district attorney’s offices do, that they will push a case to trial even if it’s not their strongest case,” Elikann said.

“This very well could be an exception.”

Elikann said it has become “conventional wisdom” that it’s “unlikely that you’ll ever get 12 jurors to agree that she committed first-degree murder.”

“It would make sense that as a win-win situation that the DA’s office puts their head together with the defense counsel and they try to work out some sort of compromise that they can both live with,” he added.

The veteran attorney said Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz likely realizes it’s going to be an uphill battle to secure a murder conviction at a potential retrial.

“Different juries can differ. But that might be an indication that it’s going to be really rough to get 12 people to find her guilty of first-degree murder,” Elikann said.

“Therefore, it would be something that they would mull over. Why have another trial if the likelihood of getting a conviction would be considered so minimal by a lot of people?”

Nick Dargie, one of the jurors, revealed the holdout juror refused to explain how witness testimony helped prove his stance.

“There was several times I would ask him to show us evidence or, you know, describe a witness testimony that helped to prove what he was saying, and … he couldn’t,” Dargie said.

“There wasn’t a single piece of evidence or witness testimony that he used to prove why he was thinking the way he was, which is why we ultimately sent in that note.”

Cruz, who has not decided whether to retry Clancy, said after the mistrial: “There will be no decisions made today regarding that.”

“I’m going to be meeting with our team, and we will address this case further at the appropriate time and in the context of an official court proceeding,” Cruz said.

Clancy’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, said he hopes the two sides can “work something out” when asked about a possible plea agreement during a recent interview.

Reddington filed a motion on Wednesday asking Sullivan to enter a finding of not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility on each charge. He wants the motion to be heard at a hearing on Sept. 29.

“A hung jury is not a verdict; jeopardy does not terminate on a hung jury, and a mistrial ordinarily permits retrial,” Reddington conceded in the filing.

He argued that 11 of the 12 jurors “applied the reasonable doubt standard,” concluding that the prosecutors hadn’t proven that Clancy was criminally responsible. The lone holdout on the jury, according to the motion and other jurors, allegedly ignored doubts he had and wanted a guilty verdict.

“I’m willing to listen to Tim. I’ve known Tim for 30 years. He’s a very hard charging prosecutor,” Reddington said, referring to Cruz.

“I hope, however, after sitting through this trial and seeing the evidence that was presented from the government as well as from the defense, that he would revisit that issue and hopefully would be able to work something out that would be acceptable to both sides.”

Retired Massachusetts Superior Judge Jack Lu expressed skepticism that prosecutors would agree to any deal, despite calling it a “good idea.”

“I predict that the prosecutor’s office will approach this the same way, at least as the charges are concerned, as they did for trial number one, seeking a conviction of first-degree murder,” Lu said.

“There is some possibility that they’ll reduce the charges, and that would, that could happen, but I wouldn’t be predicting that.”

“I think it’s the honest philosophical point of view of the prosecutor in this case that this individual should be convicted of first-degree murder,” he added.

Clancy is due back in court on Sept. 29 for a status hearing, where more information about the future of her case may be revealed.

Justice must be served, but it must also be fair.