Deadlocked jury in Lindsay Clancy trial told to keep deliberating

Jurors in the Lindsay Clancy trial say they have been unable to reach a unanimous decision on whether the Massachusetts mother is criminally responsible for killing her three young children, but the judge has told them to keep trying.

The jury was in its fourth day of deliberations on Tuesday, local time, in a closely watched trial that has focused on maternal mental health after childbirth, and which has stirred deep divisions among the public.

Warning: This story contains details that may be distressing for some readers.

This was the jury's first indication of an impasse. Ms Clancy stared straight ahead as the jury entered, then looked toward them as the judge spoke.

Judge William Sullivan told the jurors he recognised it had been a long trial with more than 80 witnesses and 300 exhibits. "But because of that, I'm going to ask you to go back out," he said.

Ms Clancy, a former labour and delivery nurse, does not deny killing her children but says postpartum psychosis led to her actions.

Prosecutors argue she knew what she was doing. The 36-year-old has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility.

What could happen next?

The jury could convict Ms Clancy of murder or manslaughter, or acquit her if jurors believe her deteriorating mental health was to blame.

A conviction could lead to a life sentence in prison. If she is acquitted, a judge could still order her confined to a mental health facility if an evaluation determines she is a danger to the public.

If jurors cannot reach a verdict and a mistrial is declared, the charges against Ms Clancy would remain. Prosecutors would need to decide whether to try Ms Clancy again before an entirely new group of jurors.

Prosecutors could offer a plea deal to Ms Clancy, although her attorney is more likely to push for them to drop the charges, said Brad Bailey, a Boston defence attorney and former prosecutor who is not involved in the case.

The jury began deliberating on Thursday afternoon. On Friday they asked to look at evidence, including bags with empty prescription pill bottles found in her house.

Trial focuses on Clancy's mental health

During more than four weeks of testimony, jurors heard differing views from medical experts.

Ms Clancy's lawyer argued she loved her children, but killed them because she lost her grip on reality — and on herself — due to bipolar disorder and postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness that can follow childbirth.

Prosecutors said Ms Clancy was depressed and tired of living, and made a conscious choice to kill the children.

A forensic psychologist who testified for the prosecution said he concluded that Ms Clancy killed the children because she wanted to end her life but did not want to leave them behind.

Ms Clancy's mother and sister testified that she became anxious, paranoid and suicidal after the birth of her third child.

She sought treatment for her worsening mental health, including a stay in a psychiatric hospital, in the months before killing Cora, Dawson and Callan Clancy, ages five, three and eight months.

Less than three weeks after being discharged, she sent her husband on an errand and killed the children in the basement of their home south of Boston. She then attempted to take her own life and remains paralysed from the waist down.

Her lawyers say she heard a voice telling her to kill the children so she could end her own life.

Clancy did not take the stand during her trial

Ms Clancy chose not to testify. She watched the proceedings from the defence table, occasionally weeping, as prosecutors showed autopsy photos of the children to the jury.

Jurors spent two days listening to testimony from her former husband, Patrick Clancy, and his anguished 911 call. He was on the phone when he discovered the children's bodies, minutes after finding his wife.

Patrick Clancy has said in interviews that he forgives his ex-wife, whom he viewed as ill rather than evil. The trial marks the first time he has seen Ms Clancy since the killings.

Postpartum psychosis, the condition that Ms Clancy's attorney says she had when she killed the children, is more serious and less common than postpartum depression. Researchers estimate that the condition afflicts one to two out of 1,000 women after delivery.