Social media is Lindsay Clancy wild card that could tilt potential retrial to the defense, retired judge says

close Video Retired judge warns social media is contaminating high-profile trials like Lindsay Clancy's Retired Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Jack Lu says social media is "contaminating, intimidating and pressuring" jurors and witnesses, citing the Lindsay Clancy case and the Karen Read trials as a growing threat to the legal system. NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! If Lindsay Clancy's murder trial ends in a mistrial, her defense could hold an unusual advantage in a retrial, a retired Massachusetts Superior Court judge says, as jurors reported for a second time Wednesday that they remain deadlocked. Clancy, 36, faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children — Cora, Dawson and Callan, all under age 6 — who were found strangled at the family's home in January 2023. Judge William Sullivan gave jurors a Tuey-Rodriguez charge Wednesday afternoon after they reported for a second time that they were deadlocked, having first signaled they were stuck earlier in the week. The charge is given to a deadlocked jury to encourage they continue deliberations, but also to remind them to listen to one another without sacrificing their honestly held opinions. WHAT IS A TUEY-RODRIGUEZ CHARGE? JUDGE GIVES INSTRUCTION TO DEADLOCKED LINDSAY CLANCY JURY Lindsay Clancy watches the jury enter the room during her murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass., Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (Greg Derr/Pool The Patriot Ledger via AP) Sullivan declined to give the instruction earlier in the week when jurors first reported difficulty agreeing, opting instead to simply send them back. The jurors deliberating in Clancy's murder trial are discussing several options, which include first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary or involuntary manslaughter, not guilty (insanity) or not guilty. LINDSAY CLANCY VERDICT: RETIRED JUDGE EXPLAINS WHAT HAPPENS IF INSANITY DEFENSE PREVAILS Judge William Sullivan, left, delivered a rare Tuey-Rodriguez charge to the deadlocked jury Wednesday as Lindsay Clancy, right, looked on during proceedings in Plymouth Superior Court. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via Pool and David L. Ryan/Pool) Retired Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Jack Lu told Fox News Digital that a retrial after a mistrial has traditionally favored the prosecution, but that social media has upended that conventional wisdom. "In the past, the conventional wisdom was that the prosecution is more likely to win on a retrial after a hung jury. The new conventional wisdom is question mark because of social media infected trials," Lu said. LINDSAY CLANCY MURDER TRIAL BECOMES SOCIAL MEDIA OBSESSION AS TIKTOKERS, SLEUTHS DEBATE CONTROVERSIAL CASE Defense attorney Kevin Reddington addresses reporters as jurors weigh the case against Lindsay Clancy in the 2023 deaths of her three children. (JOSEPH PREZIOSO / AFP via ) Lu pointed to Karen Read's case, the Massachusetts woman who was tried twice in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend.