Lindsay Clancy’s attorney has said he was frustrated because a juror refused to apply the judge’s explanation of reasonable doubt, leading to a deadlocked jury and a mistrial in the closely watched murder trial.
Kevin Reddington explained his frustration during an appearance on Good Morning America on Tuesday, September 8, after Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial when jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict.
The jury foreperson had sent a note to the judge indicating that the jury appeared to be split 11-1.
“What I was upset about was after that lengthy trial and the work that everyone put into this case, including these jurors that spent literally almost two months away from their home, their job, their family, where a gentleman had an opinion… but that according to the note from the forelady that he had doubt but he would not apply the law of reasonable doubt as presented by the judge,” Reddington told George Stephanopoulos.
“That’s not right and that’s why I was upset.” Reddington made it clear that he respected the juror’s right to disagree with the other members of the panel.
“That’s part of our judicial system, and I respect that,” he said. “And I would certainly defend his right to do that.”
His comments were more measured than those he made on Friday, when the mistrial was declared.
Reddington had accused the holdout juror of having “robbed” Clancy and claimed the juror had taken away seven weeks of the other jurors’ lives.
Although the jury’s deliberations have not been made public, Reddington claimed the other 11 jurors had voted to acquit Clancy.
After the foreperson’s note was sent to the judge, Reddington asked for the holdout juror to be removed, but Sullivan declined.
Clancy is facing murder charges over the deaths of her three children, Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and eight-month-old Callan. She pleaded not guilty by lack of criminal responsibility.
Her defence has argued that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and was overmedicated when she used exercise bands to strangle the children before jumping from a second-story window in an apparent suicide attempt.
Prosecutors have argued that Clancy was not experiencing psychosis and that her actions were deliberate.
