BOMBSHELL: Social Media Could Hand Murder Mom a Shocking Win

Liberty Check

• Massachusetts jury deadlocked for second time in trial of mother accused of murdering her three children
• Retired judge warns social media has flipped traditional prosecution advantage in retrials
• Defense attorney says accused killer ‘couldn’t emotionally handle’ another trial despite willingness to retry case

A Massachusetts mother facing three counts of first-degree murder may be handed an unexpected advantage if her trial ends in a mistrial, according to a retired Massachusetts Superior Court judge — and the reason has everything to do with social media’s corrupting influence on the American justice system.

Lindsay Clancy, 36, stands accused in the deaths of her three children — Cora, Dawson and Callan, all under age 6 — who were found strangled at the family’s home in January 2023. Jurors reported for a second time Wednesday that they remain deadlocked, forcing Judge William Sullivan to deliver a Tuey-Rodriguez charge encouraging continued deliberation while reminding them not to abandon honestly held opinions.

The jury is weighing options ranging from first-degree murder to not guilty by reason of insanity. After already spending more than 28 hours deliberating over six days, they’ve twice told the court they cannot reach a unanimous decision.

Retired Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Jack Lu revealed that conventional wisdom about retrials has been completely upended by social media’s interference in high-profile cases.

“In the past, the conventional wisdom was that the prosecution is more likely to win on a retrial after a hung jury. Now it’s different… The new conventional wisdom is question mark because of social media infected trials,” Lu told reporters.

Lu pointed to the Karen Read case as a prime example of social media’s destructive impact on the justice system. Read, a Massachusetts woman tried twice in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend, saw her case become a social media circus that ultimately worked in her favor. After jurors deadlocked in her 2024 trial, she was acquitted at her 2025 retrial.

“In the Karen Read case, the social media abuse was at a slow boil in the first trial. At the second trial, it just all erupted,” Lu said.

The retired judge acknowledged he’s abandoned social media entirely because “it’s too abusive an environment.”

While Clancy’s attorney said he’d “absolutely” go to trial again if Sullivan declares a mistrial, he painted a picture of his client as unable to withstand another round in court.

“She had a flat affect, she’s sad,” the attorney told reporters Tuesday.

A GoFundMe for Clancy’s parents has surpassed $830,000, though questions remain about who would fund her defense in a retrial and whether her attorney would charge for it. The massive fundraising haul raises concerns about how public sympathy — often cultivated through social media narratives — can influence both financial support and jury pools in high-profile cases.

Sullivan initially declined to give the Tuey-Rodriguez instruction earlier in the week when jurors first reported difficulty agreeing, simply sending them back to continue deliberations. But after Wednesday’s second deadlock notice, he brought the jury out to deliver the formal charge designed to break impasses.

“I brought you back out because I know that this was a long trial. All right, I know there were over 80 witnesses. There were over 300 exhibits,” Sullivan told the jury, asking them to review the evidence and resume deliberations while keeping his instructions in mind.

If jurors return once more to report continued deadlock, Lu said the case will likely end in a mistrial.

“I’m afraid so, with limited exceptions, it would end up being a mistrial, a true hung jury, deadlocked jury,” Lu said.

The case highlights a troubling trend in American courtrooms where social media mob mentality and online narratives increasingly threaten the integrity of jury deliberations. What was once a prosecution advantage in retrials has been flipped on its head by the constant noise and influence of platforms designed to manipulate public opinion.

Jurors are scheduled to return Thursday to continue deliberations for a sixth day in a case that has already consumed more than 28 hours of their time weighing whether a mother who strangled her three young children should face justice or be excused by reason of insanity.

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