How long will the Lindsay Clancy trial jury take to reach a verdict? — CBS News — Top

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How long will the Lindsay Clancy trial jury take to reach a verdict? — CBS News — Top | AIPROPX

The jury in the Lindsay Clancy trial continued their deliberations Friday and it could be days before they reach a verdict in the Massachusetts murder case, according to a legal expert.Jurors deliberated for three and a half hours Thursday after the prosecution and defense made their closing arguments in Plymouth Superior Court. They will decide whether Clancy is criminally responsible for killing her three children - 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan. The defense says she was overmedicated and suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time, while prosecutors argued she planned the murders and knew right from wrong."I don\u0027t think we\u0027re seeing a verdict before Monday or Tuesday of next week," WBZ-TV legal analyst Jennifer Roman said.Roman said that jurors usually take a straw poll when they start deliberations, even though they\u0027re not technically supposed to, to see how everyone is leaning."Just by the sheer fact that they didn\u0027t come back [Thursday] at 4:20 means they are not unanimous," she said. "Even if it\u0027s not guilty by reason of insanity, it has to be unanimous."Roman pointed out that jurors have to consider testimony from 85 witnesses in their deliberations, and "it just takes time.""It\u0027s not like Karen Read where there\u0027s a lot of physical evidence they had to go through," Roman said. "They have a lot of medical reports and notes and her journals. Although there\u0027s not much of it, it\u0027s going to take a while for them to get through it, and then they\u0027re going to have to parse that out with the actual testimony."Lindsay Clancy juryAfter alternates were randomly drawn Thursday, the jury was whittled from 18 jurors to 12 - nine women and three men. Judge William Sullivan named an older woman as foreperson.Roman said the gender disparity "could work for either side, really.""Sometimes I think that women can be harsher on other women and hold them to a higher standard," she said.But more women on the jury means some of them could relate to what Clancy went through, Roman said."Presumably some of them are mothers or are grandmothers," she said. "They may have had somebody in their life, including themselves, who may have suffered postpartum depression following a pregnancy or known someone who has and that could also color their perspective too."Lindsay Clancy verdict optionsJurors have five choices on their verdict slips. The least likely outcome is a straight "not guilty" finding, Roman said, though it\u0027s legally required to be an option."She\u0027s acknowledged she did this," Roman said. "It\u0027s just a question of was she able to conform her conduct to the law at the time of the killings."If Clancy is found not guilty because of a mental illness, she will be required to continue staying at Tewksbury Hospital, where she\u0027s been for the last few years. The state hospital and authorities will review her case every six months or so and decide whether or not it\u0027s safe for her to be released, Roman said."Even if she\u0027s found not guilty by reason of insanity, she\u0027s not walking," Roman said.A conviction of first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter would mean Clancy goes to prison."I think that\u0027s really why this case ended up going to trial was because nobody could guarantee her that she would be in the state hospital as opposed to a population in a prison if she pleaded guilty," Roman said.The lesser charge of manslaughter could be a "compromise position" for a jury that is struggling in its deliberations, Roman said."Maybe they don\u0027t find that it was premeditated. Maybe they find that she was off, she was struggling, but she could still conform her conduct to the law," she said. "That\u0027s your manslaughter charge. I think it does give the jury a little bit more breathing room."