@meghannmcuniff: The judge in Lindsay Clancy's trial explained this morning why he won't remove a juror from deliberation after the foreperson said the juror is not following the law on probable cause. Jurors began their seventh day of deliberation about 9:23 a.m. today (Friday, September 4). The foreperson sent a note about the holdout juror on Thursday about 2 p.m., then sent another note before jurors recessed for the day. Judge William Sullivan discussed the note this morning with attorneys. He heard argument from Clancy's lawyer Kevin Reddington and Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sprague before saying he wouldn't question the holdout juror further or instruct the jury again about probable cause, which he did on Thursday. Sullivan said Massachusetts law holds that "the discharge of a deliberating juror is sensitive undertaking, fraught with potential error." "It's to be done only in special circumstances with special precautions. A judge must take the utmost caution to avoid invading the province of the jury. That's what I'm concerned with ... at this point," Sullivan said. "And as even under the statute, during deliberations, a juror properly may be discharged only for reasons personal to that juror, having nothing whatsoever to do ... with the issues of the case or with the juror's relationship with their fellow jurors." "In this case here, I see no showing of the need for an inquiry of this particular juror. The note that we were referring to, the one from late yesterday afternoon, indicates that the juror has says acknowledged doubt but refuses to apply it to the verdict. Well, the instruction that the SJC has suggested we give in regards to reasonable doubt and that both parties agreed to says that reasonable doubt does not mean proof beyond all possible doubt." "And so in reading that note carefully and strictly in the way that I have to before I possibly invade the province of the jury, that note does not indicate that this is a person who has refused to follow the law." "This is not a case that there's any indication that the juror has refused to deliberate or has any reason has indicated that they would not follow the law or that they're physically suffering." "There's no note from the juror that indicates that the juror cannot or will not be able to continue deliberating." Jurors went to the jury room at 9:23 a.m. It's their seventh day of deliberation. Six alternates jurors heard the 22 days of testimony. Were a juror removed, an alternate would join deliberations and the jury would be instructed to begin deliberations anew. If the nine women and three men currently deliberating cannot unanimously agree on a verdict, Sullivan can declare a mistrial, and the prosecutors will decide whether to pursue a second trial. #law #court #crime

Meghann Cuniff

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Friday 04 September 2026 15:09:40 GMT