Summary

  • The judge tells the jury to keep deliberating for a third time in the trial of Lindsay Clancy, who is accused of killing her three small children in Massachusetts in 2023 - watch live above

  • Just beforehand, Clancy's defence lawyer appeared to be frustrated with the judge during a tense exchange, our reporter writes from court

  • Clancy is charged with three counts of first-degree murder, as the prosecution argues she made a calculated, intentional decision to kill them

  • The 36-year-old former nurse does not dispute killing her two sons and daughter, but her lawyer argues she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time, and therefore could not distinguish right from wrong

  • Warning: This page contains distressing details

  1. Not what we expected in the courtroompublished at 20:29 BST

    Ana Faguy
    Reporting from court in Massachusetts

    This was not what we expected at all. We thought we'd be coming in here to hear there was a mistrial or that there was a question or a verdict in the case.

    Instead they are continuing their deliberations.

  2. Jury to resume deliberationspublished at 20:28 BST
    Breaking

    The jury has been sent back to continue deliberations after receiving further instructions on the law from the judge.

  3. Judge explains legal rules to jurypublished at 20:27 BST

    Ana Faguy
    Reporting from court in Massachusetts

    As the judge reads the rules of reasonable doubt to the jury, Clancy looks at the jury and at the judge and Reddington has his chairs completely turned to face the jury and is looking right at them.

    The jury is looking at the judge.

  4. Judge addresses the jury - watch livepublished at 20:26 BST
    Breaking

    Judge William Sullivan is addressing the jury as a whole now.

    A reminder - you watch the proceedings live above.

  5. Judge finishes speaking to each jurorpublished at 20:23 BST

    Judge William Sullivan has finished speaking with each of the jurors one on one. The alternate jurors are not in the courtroom.

  6. Some jurors look at Clancy as they're escorted in and out of the roompublished at 20:18 BST

    Ana Faguy
    Reporting from court in Massachusetts

    As each of the jurors come in, some appear to look at Clancy and some don't.

    We expect each of the 18 jurors - 12 deliberating and six alternates - to go through this process.

    We can't hear anything, but we watch them each one by one walk in and raise their arm, say something out loud and then we see the judge asked them a question before they are escorted out of the room.

  7. Judge bringing in jurors one by onepublished at 20:15 BST

    Ana Faguy
    Reporting from court in Massachusetts

    Now we're seeing a procedure we saw yesterday morning.

    The judge is bringing each juror in one by one and asking them to raise their hand and presumably promise they're committed to their duty.

    This time, as each juror does this, it's not just the prosecution and defence looking on, but Clancy too.

  8. Clancy listening to updates from her lawyer and goes up to judgepublished at 20:10 BST

    Ana Faguy
    Reporting from court in Massachusetts

    Reddington is telling Clancy what is happening now, and she's leaning in to listen attentively. We can't see her face.

    He is now wheeling her over to the judge.

    Now Clancy herself is part of the sidebar, and they are all continuing to talk. Reminder: we can't hear anything.

  9. Clancy's lawyer slams down papers in tense discussion with judgepublished at 20:09 BST
    Breaking

    Ana Faguy
    Reporting from court in Massachusetts

    The discussion between the lawyers and the judge looks intense. They're all making direct eye contact with the judge.

    It appears Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague of the prosecution and Clancy's lawyer Kevin Reddington are speaking to the judge.

    There is an exasperated sigh from Reddington, who now appears impassioned.

    He's slammed down papers and crossed his arms in apparent frustration. There appears to be a change in temper here from Reddington.

    This is one of the longer sidebar discussions, as they are called, I've seen since I've been here this week.

  10. Judge calls lawyers to the bench for a private discussionpublished at 20:04 BST

    Ana Faguy
    Reporting from court in Massachusetts

    Judge William Sullivan brings lawyers from both the prosecution and the defence to the bench to speak with them privately.

    Reminder: we can't hear them; static noise is playing in the courtroom.

    But we can see them, and they're all listening attentively.

  11. Quiet in the courtroom as judge takes the benchpublished at 20:01 BST

    Ana Faguy
    Reporting from court in Massachusetts

    The prosecutors are facing forward, not looking around.

    Defence lawyer Kevin Reddington has his head down too, looking at his phone.

    We can only see Clancy's side profile; her hair is mostly covering her face.

  12. What are the jury's options in this case?published at 20:01 BST

    Ana Faguy
    Reporting from court in Massachusetts

    As a reminder, Lindsay Clancy is charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

    While we wait to hear what the jury's note says, here is a reminder of the options they could choose from if they were to eventually reach a verdict in this case.

    • Clancy could be found guilty of first-degree murder. In the state of Massachusetts, first-degree murder - the intentional and premeditated killing of another person - carries a mandatory life in prison sentence without the possibility of parole
    • Clancy could be found guilty of a lesser charge including second-degree murder - committed with malice or extreme recklessness, but without prior planning - or manslaughter - unintentionally killing "by wanton and reckless conduct". In either of those instances she would face time behind bars
    • If Clancy is found not guilty by reason of insanity she will not be set free. She'll go to a psychiatric hospital where her status will be periodically reviewed. She could remain in hospital for life

    Read more here.

  13. Judge takes the bench - watch live abovepublished at 19:59 BST

    Judge William Sullivan takes the bench in the courtroom.

    As a reminder, you can watch proceedings live at the top of this page.

  14. Clancy now in court as we await the jurypublished at 19:58 BST

    Ana Faguy
    Reporting from court in Massachusetts

    We're now seated in the courtroom.

    Lindsay Clancy, her defence attorney, prosecuting attorneys and her family are all here. There are dozens of members of the media here as well as dozens of members of the public.

    For the first time this week, some members of the public haven't been let in because it's too crowded in here. Members of the Clancy family have their heads bowed as does Clancy.

    It is quiet as a mouse, the only thing you can hear is the clacking of hands on laptops.

    We're still waiting for the jury to come in.

  15. Jury returns with note for judgepublished at 19:57 BST
    Breaking

    The jury has a note for the judge. It's not clear what the note is about.

  16. Clancy family seen arriving in courtpublished at 19:53 BST
    Breaking

    Lindsay Clancy's parents have now entered the court, according to reporters. Her sister was also seen arriving at the courthouse earlier today.

    The suspect herself has yet to enter the courtroom.

  17. Lining up to go back into court - we don't know why yetpublished at 19:46 BST

    Ana Faguy
    Reporting from court in Massachusetts

    We're all lining up anxiously waiting to go back into the courtroom. That's because we've heard there's an update.

    We don't know exactly what that is. It could be a question from the jury. It could be a verdict or it could be the jury telling us once again they cannot reach unanimous decision.

    The press and members of the public who are lined up here have been waiting for hours now to hear what's going happen next in this trial.

  18. Dreary day, tired-looking jurypublished at 19:44 BST

    Ana Faguy
    Reporting from court in Massachusetts

    Paula Musgrove (right) and Michael Musgrove (centre), parents of Lindsay Clancy, walk with Allison Ozga (left), sister of Lindsay Clancy, as they arrive at the courthouse as the jury deliberation phase continues.Image source, AFP via Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Parents of Lindsay Clancy and her sister Allison Ozga (left) arrive in court amid rain

    It's a dreary day here in Plymouth, Massachusetts, where we've all returned to court for day six of jury deliberations.

    The sense of anxiety in court is palpable as we are all on edge for news from the jury - of a verdict or of further deadlock - at any moment.

    When they filed into the courtroom earlier this morning, the jurors looked tired to me. They were looking around at the rest of us in courtroom a lot more than they had in previous days as the judge sent them off to continue their deliberations once again.

    As a reminder, they've been here for six weeks, listening to dozens of witnesses' testimony and spending more than 35 hours deliberating. They've already told the judge twice that they are deadlocked and cannot come to a unanimous decision.

  19. Court resumespublished at 19:43 BST
    Breaking

    Court resumes in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial.