Clancy's defence lawyer Kevin Reddington continued to push back until the last minute, insisting Judge William Sullivan had the power to dismiss the one holdout juror.

"Unfortunately, they’re not holding out based on a good-faith issue," he said.

The judge denied the request, and proceeded to officially declare a mistrial in the case of Lindsay Clancy. The jurors have now been sent home, with no further obligations in this trial.

"At this point, I'm going to declare that the jury is deadlocked, and I'm going to declare a mistrial," Judge William Sullivan tells the jury, discharging them.

Judge Sullivan has called members of the jury back to the courtroom.

Judge William Sullivan says the defence team's emergency appeal asking the the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to intervene has been denied.

The temporary pause on court proceedings is now lifted, the judge adds, and he intends to bring the jury in and proceed in declaring a mistrial.

After an hour-long delay and an hour-long break for lunch, court is back in session with Judge William Sullivan on the bench.

The defendant and her family, lawyers, and dozens of members of the press have all filed back into the courtroom.

We're now waiting for an update on what happens next.

Click watch live to stream the proceedings yourself.

Ione Wells
Reporting from court in Massachusetts

We're going back into court now.

Clancy and her attorney just appeared virtually before a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court justice, urging the higher court to consider intervening to prevent a mistrial today.

Clancy and lawyer Kevin Reddington appeared together on Zoom from the courthouse, and speaking on their behalf was another attorney, Dana Goldblatt. Goldblatt argued that the Supreme Court justice should take action, as one of the jurors is refusing to follow the law and Judge William Sullivan is refusing to correct the situation properly.

After the brief hearing, Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt said the documents were quick and well put together, but she needs time to make a decision.

We will bring you more on that when we know the outcome.

Brandon Drenon

The Lindsay Clancy trial has not only captivated massive interest, it has also been massively divisive.

Crowds of supporters in pink shirts have flocked to the courthouse to show their support, some carrying notes in pink envelopes for Clancy, empathising with her struggles as a mother.

Others, like Nicole Russell, who have tuned into the trial from afar, have watched the outpouring of support in disbelief and “shock”.

“Death by strangulation is very specific. It's very gruesome,” Russell said, referring to the evidence of how Clancy killed her kids that shaped her views on the trial.

“So to know that her children's last face they saw was her trying to kill them, that started to, I think, just make the crimes very real to me,” Russell, who has four children, continued.

“Lindsay Clancy cannot be the poster child of what difficult motherhood looks like, because millions of mothers give birth to children and endure all kinds of hardship, and they do not hurt their children,” she said. “Those are the heroes.”

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has received an emergency appeal filed by Lindsay Clancy's legal team.

Clancy's attorney Kevin Reddington hopes the high court will intervene and halt plans by judge William Sullivan to declare a mistrial after the jury said for the third time this week it has not reached a unanimous decision.

If the Supreme Judicial Court does not intervene, a mistrial will be declared. If the court does choose to step in, it's unclear what would unfold next.

Read more about what a mistrial could mean for the case here.

Pratiksha Ghildial
Reporting from court in Massachusetts

Image source, BBC/Pratiksha Ghildial

Lindsay Clancy's family walked out of the courthouse as the court broke for lunch.

Clancy's mother, father and sister have been present for most of the trial.

After six and a half days trying to reach a verdict and several notes to the judge, Lindsay Clancy's jury is still deadlocked.

The judge has now stated his intention to declare a mistrial.

Here's a timeline of the key moments in deliberations so far:

• 27 August: Attorneys for both sides make closing arguments and jury begins first day of deliberations
• 1 September: Jurors notify the judge they are unable to reach a unanimous decision - the judge instructs them to continue deliberating, but they end the day with no verdict. State police arrest a woman outside court and charge her with intimidation of a witness or jurors
• 2 September: Jurors tell the judge they still cannot reach a unanimous verdict - the atmosphere in court is incredibly tense, according to our reporter at the scene
• 3 September: On day six, Clancy's attorney asks the judge to remove one juror who he says isn't following the judge's instructions regarding reasonable doubt. The judge rejects the request and says he does not want to interfere. Discussions between the two are animated. The judge sends the jury home and orders them to continue deliberations
• 4 September: Judge Sullivan once again denies Clancy's attorney's request to remove one of the jurors. After the jury resumed private deliberations, it sends their third note this week saying they do not have a unanimous decision. Sullivan says he plans to declare the case a mistrial. Prosecutors support this, but the defence opposes. Clancy's team has been given an hour to file an emergency appeal with the state's apex court

Ione Wells
Reporting from court in Massachusetts

Court has now gone to lunch.

An announcement was made outside the courtroom that it will be another hour before proceedings begin again.

That means, by the time the break ends, it will have been well over the hour the judge said he’d give the defence to file his appeal.

Ione Wells
Reporting from court in Massachusetts

About fifty reporters and around thirty members of the public are still queuing outside the courtroom, waiting to hear if we will get back inside.

There was a flurry of activity after an hour passed, given the judge said that’s how long he’d give the defence to appeal to the Massachusetts Supreme Court.

But, it appears to be taking longer than that.

Today's proceedings are on hold for now as Kevin Reddington, the defence attorney for Lindsay Clancy files an emergency appeal against Judge William Sullivan's stated plans to declare a mistrial.

Here's a look inside the court in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Image source, Pool via Getty Images

Image source, Pool via Getty Images

Image source, Pool via Getty Images

Ione Wells
Reporting from court in Massachusetts

An hour has passed now since Judge Sullivan told Reddington he could file an emergency appeal against his decision to declare a mistrial, but we are still waiting outside.

We'll let you know when we know more.

Ana Faguy
US reporter

"Wow and wow," Heather Cucolo, a New York Law School professor and mental health law expert, tells of me of the latest developments in court.

"A one-hour delay in filing an emergency petition for a stay with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court before declaring the mistrial official is a desperate move, but it’s unlikely to have any significant impact," she adds.

"To push the jury to continued deliberations at this point is a risky move that could insinuate jury coercion and call any final verdict into question."

Pratiksha Ghildial
Reporting from outside court in Massachusetts

There are a few supporters of Lindsay Clancy milling outside while we await the final decision.

One of them, Kimberly Montgomery, has travelled from New Hampshire today. She says she has been following the case from the beginning and firmly believes that mothers in need should be supported.

"The (potential) mistrial is half as good as it could be. I do believe that would be a good step in the right direction," she says.

She hopes that even if there is a mistrial, Clancy will get some mental health support.

Grace Eliza Goodwin
US reporter

Clancy's lawyer Kevin Reddington has asked the judge to delay declaring a mistrial for an hour while he files an appeal to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court - a request the judge has granted.

Such a move is "very, very rare and unusual", particularly if it means the jury has to come back to court tomorrow, on a Saturday, says William Kickham, a Massachusetts criminal defence attorney.

Reddington is "trying to make sure that the preservation of rights of his client is not disturbed. In other words, if there's going to be a mistrial, he wants it taken care of today in terms of the ability to have a mistrial," Kickham says.

"He wants to avoid another trial, and doing this may increase the chances that he can avoid that trial," he adds.

Ione Wells
Reporting from court in Massachusetts

I caught a glimpse of Lindsay Clancy's mother when we were leaving the courtroom a few minutes ago.

She, like Clancy, seemed to have a neutral expression that didn't give much away.

If this is a mistrial and the prosecution file for a re-trial, there's a chance that people who testified, like Clancy's mother, would need to go through that whole process again.

Pratiksha Ghildial
Reporting from court in Massachusetts

Maternal mental health experts say this case has thrown the spotlight on the gap in postpartum mental health healthcare in the US.

Postpartum mental health expert Nicole Kumi tells the BBC that just one appointment six weeks after delivery - the standard practice - isn't enough for mothers to get the help they need.

"We can’t keep expecting them to ask for help when they don't understand what's happening. We need to educate moms and workplaces in maternal mental health so her village is more prepared to step in. We wait for moms to be in crisis and then expect them to navigate the system which is poorly designed," Kumi says.

She says that support for Lindsay Clancy's mental health struggle doesn't mean agreeing with the deaths of her children.

"The best outcome from such a tragedy would be perinatal healthcare reform across the US Rather than allowing this to be another tragic case, it could be the turning point for maternal mental health."