Reddington tells judge he cannot prepare for retrial before June

A Massachusetts prosecutor urged a judge Tuesday to keep juror notes from Lindsay Clancy’s mistried first-degree murder trial sealed, telling the court that outside attention to the case has created a “chilling effect” on whether jurors would want to serve in the commonwealth.

“What has been happening in this case outside of this courtroom has had a chilling effect on whether a juror would even want to serve on a trial in this commonwealth,” prosecutor Shanan Buckingham said at the hearing.

Buckingham said keeping the notes impounded serves to protect jurors, United Press International reported. Defense attorney Martin Weinberg filed a separate motion seeking access to the same juror notes and sidebar discussions from the original trial, UPI reported.

In a separate development at Tuesday’s hearing, defense attorney Kevin Reddington told Sullivan he could not be prepared for a retrial before June, CBS News reported.

Judge William Sullivan presided over Tuesday’s hearing in the case, which stems from the 2023 deaths of Clancy’s three children — Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months — at the family home in Duxbury, Mass., UPI reported. Clancy has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges, and her lawyers have argued she had postpartum psychosis at the time and should not be found criminally responsible. Reddington also said there is no evidence Clancy admitted to killing her children.

Sullivan declared a mistrial in the case on Sept. 4 after the jury failed to reach a verdict on the charges, according to UPI. On Tuesday, the judge told the court he would consider the defense’s motion but would not rule immediately, CNN reported.

Sullivan told the court his goal was to resolve the case and move it forward without sacrificing anyone’s rights.

“I’m hearing about how important this is to get this resolved, to deal with this — for all the parties. That’s what I’m trying to do,” Sullivan said.

“That’s my goal in this thing: is to get this thing tried as soon as proper without sacrificing anyone’s rights, anyone’s position,” he said.

“This is not indicating how I’m going to rule on any of the other motions, but I think it’s important that this case move forward, if it has to move forward,” Sullivan said.

The judge also declined to set a date for a potential retrial and ordered lawyers to return for a Nov. 2 hearing, UPI reported.