After nearly 30 hours of deliberations, can Lindsay Clancy’s jurors break their impasse?

By Eric Levenson, Nicki Brown, Jean Casarez, CNN

Plymouth, Massachusetts (CNN) — One by one, the 12 deliberating jurors and six alternate jurors in Lindsay Clancy’s trial approached the judge’s bench Wednesday morning.

The clerk swore in each juror, and one at a time they listened to the judge speak, while the prosecution and defense looked on. The judge’s words were not audible to reporters in court – but the jurors shook their head or nodded affirmatively during the brief interactions.

The judge seemed satisfied with the exchanges. Every one of them.

“The Court finds all Jurors are fair and impartial and may remain as Deliberating Jurors and Alternate Jurors,” court records state.

When all was done, the 12 deliberating jurors were sent out again to try to reach a unanimous verdict – a monumental task they have yet been unable to reach after nearly 30 hours of deliberations. Twice now, the jury has told the court they cannot come to a unanimous verdict on Clancy’s guilt. And twice the jurors were directed by the judge to continue deliberating and try to break the impasse.

This latest time, state Judge William F. Sullivan gave the jury a special, final instruction that asks them to consider the reasonableness of all opinions and to continue deliberating toward a verdict.

The gathered journalists and interested public citizens at the courthouse have become restless, swarming defense attorney Kevin Reddington as he enters and leaves court. One woman was arrested Tuesday afternoon for allegedly filming jurors, and on Wednesday morning she took to running as she fled the curious crowd after her arraignment.

At the center of it all is Clancy, the former labor and delivery nurse charged with murder in the strangulation of her three children. Now paralyzed from a suicide attempt, the 36-year-old has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder.

Her future hangs in the balance: Will the jury convict her of murder or manslaughter for the killings? Will they consider her mental health issues and find her not guilty by lack of criminal responsibility?

Or will they make no unanimous decision at all?

“This is where it gets into the fourth quarter of the game here,” Dave Aronberg, former state attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida, told CNN on Wednesday. “If the jury doesn’t come to an agreement, this thing is going to be a mistrial.”

Woman pleads not guilty to jury intimidation

In a nearby courtroom, the impetus for the dramatic jury questions appeared in the same courthouse as the jury began its fifth day of deliberations.

Dawn Light, 56, was arrested Tuesday afternoon after prosecutors alleged she filmed jurors leaving the courthouse. The retired nurse pleaded not guilty Wednesday morning to one count of aggravated intimidation of a witness, jurors, and others.

In court, prosecutor Nicole Piacentini told the judge Light was in a restricted area of the parking lot behind the courthouse and filmed jurors leaving court. When police officers approached her, Light denied having taken any photos or videos, the prosecutor said. With her permission, officers searched Light’s phone and found a deleted video of the jurors, Piacentini said.

“The sanctity of the judicial system is at risk because of her actions. It’s an extremely serious matter for the commonwealth and the integrity of the proceedings,” the prosecutor told the judge.

A court-appointed attorney for Light called it a “complete misunderstanding.”

“My client was seeking a picture of Ms. Clancy and had no intention of any interaction with the jurors,” attorney Jennifer White told the judge.

The judge released Light without a cash bail and ordered her to stay away from the courthouse and make no contact with jurors on the Clancy case. The judge also prohibited Light from releasing any photos or videos she took of the jurors.

As Light left the court, dozens of people holding cameras, microphones and cell phones surrounded her for comment. She began to run in an attempt to flee and avoid the spotlight.

Jury says they’re still deadlocked

The jury, made up of nine women and three men, began deliberating last Thursday and have continued for about 29.5 hours over five days.

On Tuesday morning, the jury sent a note to the court indicating they were deadlocked.

“After many hours of deliberation, we are unable to come to a unanimous decision,” the note said, according to Sullivan.

He sent them back to deliberate further, noting this was a “long trial” with over 80 witnesses.

Then midday Wednesday, the jury sent another note bearing a similar message.

“After much deliberation we are still unable to come to a unanimous decision,” the note said.

Sullivan called the jury back into court and read aloud a “dynamite charge,” a set of jury instructions known in Massachusetts as the Tuey-Rodriguez charge. In an attempt to get a verdict, the charge formally instructs the jurors to consider the reasonableness of their own and others’ opinions and to continue deliberating.

“You should consider that it is desirable that the case be decided,” the instructions state.

The jury will return to court for a sixth day of deliberations on Thursday. If they remain deadlocked, the judge may choose to declare a mistrial, ending the trial without a clear resolution and raising the possibility of a retrial.

Prosecutors are likely to push for a retrial, legal experts say.

The case is “so polarizing and so political” that the Plymouth County district attorney would “retry this case no matter what,” Mark Eiglarsh, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, told CNN.

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CNN’s Kara Scannell, Jeff Winter and Sarah Boxer contributed to this report.