A juror in the trial of Lindsay Clancy is sharing new details about what he said happened inside the jury room that led to a mistrial in the case of the Massachusetts woman facing first-degree murder charges for the 2023 deaths of her three young children.

Nick Dargie, one of the three men on the 12-person jury, told ABC News’ Aaron Katersky that the lone holdout juror who prevented a unanimous verdict did not show any evidence explaining his vote.

“There was several times I would ask him to show us evidence or, you know, describe a witness testimony that helped to prove what he was saying, and … he couldn’t,” Dargie, 25, said in an interview Wednesday.

  • LeftReddit2@lemmy.world
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    2 hours ago

    Gotta say, I don’t like this. If you are on a JURY, you know a fucking Jury, I feel you should put your emotions aside and focus on the facts of the case.

    The facts are that Lindsay Clancy showed clear signs of her mental state degrading, only really had pills pushed on her by her medical team, expressed concern to her husband about how she was going to harm the kids in December of 2022, and both her and her husband expressed how the medication was making her worse and worse to the point of suicidal intent up to the night of the incident.

    For people like you and me who are not on the jury? An emotional response is okay. The brute fact is 3 children lost their lives, but if you are on the Jury and her fate is in your hand, you really do need to be cautious about this. You need to put facts over feelings. To me, this looks like an open and shut case of Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity. The facts point to it.

    If this Juror really did not present anything to the contrary and went off vibes? That sucks. That really really sucks. And if he was browsing his phone in the room as stated here… WHY THE FUCK ARE PHONES ALLOWED IN THE DELIEBRATION ROOM!? Was he betting on the case on Kalshi and fixing this to make money off it going to mistrial!? Was he looking at social media about this case!? Was he talking to people about this?!

    This is an absolute failure on the Juror’s part and he failed at his civic duty.

  • kreskin@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    I dont know why he keeps saying that like he’s owed evidence. Jurors arent required to present any evidence. This Dargie guy sounds like a whiner.

  • Shih_Tzu_Farts@lemmy.zip
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    12 hours ago

    She strangled her kids and tried to hide behind mental illness, a not guilty would be an absolute travesty.

  • Ironfist79@lemmy.world
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    20 hours ago

    That juror could end up in legal trouble because it sounds like they lied during the voir dire process. One of the things they will ask you is if you are willing to follow the judge’s instructions. We had a lady dismissed because she said no, she would use her own judgement.

  • CrimeIsLegalNow@ani.social
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    24 hours ago

    Love that all the incels are going to bitch and whine about a case they only know from headlines for a month.

    • Ironfist79@lemmy.world
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      19 hours ago

      The legal standard is reasonable doubt. Jurors cannot be punished for their decision though.

    • TheMinister@sh.itjust.works
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      2 days ago

      But some reasoning should be required for a vote. If you can’t prove any, it means you didn’t do any, and you’re making a major decision haphazardly

      • Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world
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        6 hours ago

        No, cause explaining your reasoning just gives people something to argue with you about. I don’t even know why they deliberate. If it requires skmeone else tomconvince you, then it isn’t your opinion, it’s theirs.

      • square@lemmy.zip
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        2 days ago

        I disagree. “I didn’t believe these witnesses, but I did believe these witnesses, but I can’t articulate why,” is perfectly valid.

          • square@lemmy.zip
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            2 days ago

            And he doesn’t have to. “I didn’t believe the defense’s assertions of insanity, I believe the state’s case beyond a reasonable doubt. I can’t point to one, two, or three specific things, I just didn’t believe it in it’s totality,” is valid.

            Edit: A lack of ability to articulate his reasoning would certainly be a hinderance to getting anyone on his side, but the validity of his vote doesn’t depend on his ability to pull a Twelve Angry Men.

            • TheMinister@sh.itjust.works
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              2 days ago

              See this is kind of the point. He didnt even do that much, according to the article. Which is what most people would do when it’s their thought. If the juror was somehow compromised or lying, they would act like they acted here. No reason, no reasoning, no defense.

              I dunno, neither of us were in the room. We can’t say exactly what happened, but to me this reeks of some tampering or something. But we won’t know.

              • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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                21 hours ago

                Tampering? Why? This isn’t some big trial with millions of corporate dollars on the line, or some important person’s freedom, or some politician’s power. This was just one sad woman who did a tragic thing, with no big outcome for anyone else. Who’s going to bankroll and operate a jury tampering scheme, and why?

              • square@lemmy.zip
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                2 days ago

                I’d say he did it with his vote, whether he vocalized it or not. And, of course as you said we weren’t there so this is right out of my ass, being bullied by eleven other people might have made him defensive and withdrawn.

                Miscarriages of justice happen every day, maybe there would be fewer if jurors that weren’t sure didn’t go along with the group. Demonizing this guy sends a message that jurors in the next high profile case will remember.

                • FatCrab@slrpnk.net
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                  22 hours ago

                  Sure, you can jump to the defense of this random guy, but by all accounts it sounds like he was just a sociopathic incel. Sometimes the guy everyone is saying is acting like a giant piece of shit asshole is in fact a giant piece of shit asshole and not some virtuous scrappy underdog.

              • BigPotato@lemmy.world
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                2 days ago

                No reason, no reasoning, no defense.

                It’s 2026. That’s the status quo now. Expecting people to think before, during, or after their actions is uncalled for.

                It might not even be that someone told him to. Maybe he just really hates her and doesn’t want to admit that.

      • Kairos@lemmy.today
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        1 day ago

        That will just give a license to arbitrarily remove jurors. There’s no way to do one without the other.

  • Hal-5700X@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day ago

    It’s weird to see the other jurors shit talk the lone one to the media. Why do it? It make them look like assholes.

    • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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      21 hours ago

      Because we are wondering what went on. We know something weird must have happened, and the lone holdout probably isn’t going to find a camera. At the same time, the other jurors were pissed, and they want the world to know that this guy is to blame, not them.

      How does it make the responsible jurors look bad? It makes the line holdout look bad.

      • CaptPretentious@lemmy.world
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        5 hours ago

        I mean, from what I’ve heard, I don’t think he makes the holdout look bad. The holdout, as it turns out, was voting guilty. The others were voting based on vibes and social media. Them outing themselves as protecting Lindsay Clancy… certainly a wild choice IMO. If my understanding is correct, It’s the same level as crazy as denying the Jan 6th insurrection. Or the Epstein files don’t exist or aren’t actually that important.

  • Triumph@fedia.io
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    The quote is that he couldn’t “prove what he was saying,” which suggests that he had his own idea of what happened instead.

    We don’t know what that idea was (yet?), and depending on what it is, Lone Juror may be justified or not.

    Because of the way the justice system is configured in the US, a juror’s vote is unassailable. This is what jury nullification stems from. That can and surely does go the other way, where someone is convicted of a crime they didn’t commit, just because the jury felt like it, damn the evidence or lack thereof.

    Can’t wait until they decide that federal juries get to be handpicked by a “neutral party.”

    • I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Is no one else just a little, tiny bit enormously concerned that social media is having a post-jury interview fest? Like holy shit, is no one else worried that we are suddenly scrutinizing jurors? That’s the first step to killing jury nullification. Imagine getting called to a high profile case, and you make a decision the public doesn’t like. Imagine losing your job over it due to public backlash. Imagine getting stalked and harassed, literally for performing your civic duty. Imagine you stand up against fascism by utilizing jury nullification against an unjust law, only to be mercilessly harassed by the police for months on end because focusing on jurors has become the norm.

      When the trial is over, the jurors should cease to exist. The media should not “tell their story” because their story begins and ends with the trial. Jurors identities should be kept sealed once the trial concludes.

      • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
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        13 hours ago

        Not really. After high profile cases, jurors giving interviews is pretty common. Several jurors spoke about the OJ trial as well.

      • dogslayeggs@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Yeah, I was really weirded out by all the interviews happening right now and how openly they are discussing what went on behind closed doors.

      • Triumph@fedia.io
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        2 days ago

        You’re right, but being people who have freedom of speech, there’s little that can be done about that.

        Unless you start flagging on the people who do the interviews.

      • chewypoops@lemmy.world
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        20 hours ago

        Imagine losing your job over it due to public backlash.

        Buddy, if you lose your job for serving on a Jury, you’re gonna retire to your mansion after the lawsuit.

        And the jury interviews are not mandatory. I honestly have no idea why these jurors are participating given how unhinged people are about this case. I would have kept my head down and gone the hell home once the case was over, rather than willingly hand my full name over to the media.

        • CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
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          15 hours ago

          Buddy, if you lose your job for serving on a Jury, you’re gonna retire to your mansion after the lawsuit.

          That’s only true in a country with a functioning justice system.

    • dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net
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      2 days ago

      IANAL but the article suggests a juror’s vote is not unassailable, which is why this ended in mistrial (there was something wrong with the trial) rather than a hung jury.

      A jury’s vote is unassailable, so if 12 people unanimously say “not guilty because that guy deserved it” or “not guilty because that shouldn’t be illegal” that verdict has to be accepted.

      • Triumph@fedia.io
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        2 days ago

        Hung jury is the reason for the mistrial. A mistrial is any trial that ends invalidly before a final verdict.

        A single juror’s vote can only be challenged for a small number of reasons, like disregarding the judge’s orders, doing outside research, discussing the case outside the jury room, and curiously, mentioning jury nullification.

        This is where the details of Lone Juror’s idea come into play. Unless it’s something wacky like “it’s possible aliens did it” or “demonic possession”, Lone Juror would not likely be challenged.

  • yesman@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Jurors do not have to “follow the law”. If it was that simple, we would just let the judge decide innocence and guilt.

    Jurors can acquit people they know are guilty, so it stands to reason they can convict someone they know are innocent. It’s not ideal, just superior to the alternative.

    • SirActionSack@aussie.zone
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      2 hours ago

      It’s not ideal, just superior to the alternative.

      The alternative it some places is to have a panel of multiple judges instead. Jury is stupid.

    • CrimeIsLegalNow@ani.social
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      21 hours ago

      Just to be clear for any idiots in the room, and there’s a lot in this particular room:

      Yes, jurors have to follow the law. You will be instructed on what it is for your region.

      What they can’t do is prove your decision was against the law unless you’re stupid enough to admit it.

      • chewypoops@lemmy.world
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        20 hours ago

        Thank you, I’m going crazy in here watching stupid people pull shit out of their ass so confidently.

        Like the idiot you responded to who thinks that there aren’t any legal rules to being a Juror. How are people upvoting such a stupid statement?

        Yeah, a Juror has the ability to choose a verdict, and cannot be coerced into a specific verdict. However, deliberately choosing an unfitting verdict, such as insisting on guilt without evidence or while admitting reasonable doubt, is a violation of the oath you take as a Juror, and it can lead to being perjured.

        The Juror in question admitted that there was reasonable doubt in the case, but refused to drop his guilty verdict. This was a direct violation of the law. You cannot legally acknowledge reasonable doubt, but insist on a guilty verdict. There are actually “wrong” choices by a juror. There was an attempt to remove this juror from the case because of his illegal conduct, but the judge decided letting the jury deadlock a third time for a mistrial would be better for some reason.

        It’s important to note that if it were not for this openly MAGA, law-breaking juror, the rest of the jurors were locked in on acquittal because the evidence points to a psychotic episode, and not a deliberate act of malice.

        • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
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          13 hours ago

          Part of how jury nullification works is that jurors can’t be held accountable for the verdict. They can in theory be charged with perjury if it can be proven they lied under oath during voir dire, but that’s more of a threat than a reality. In a civil case it’s possible for a judge to set aside a verdict if there’s clearly no evidence, but that’s not possible for criminal charges.

      • Ironfist79@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        From what I was told during selection you have to be honest but you cannot be punished for your answers nor can a juror be punished for how they vote.

  • wagesj45@fedia.io
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    2 days ago

    I don’t know any particulars about this specific case because I did not follow it. But that being said, he doesn’t have to justify his vote in my opinion. There’s a reason we have a jury of multiple people. The entire system was designed specifically for this possibility to arise to put a check on the possibility of mob mentality.

    I don’t know if he made the right call. I’m just glad that he has the right to make the call of his conscious in this system.

    • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
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      13 hours ago

      The way jury instructions work it’s pretty hard to not justify your vote unless you have no intention of following the instructions. The guilty or not guilty decision is usually phrased in several yes or no questions. If you’re answering one differently than 11 other people, there’s a reason.

      • wagesj45@fedia.io
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        1 hour ago

        Might be a reason, but that doesn’t mean you have to divulge it. That’s the whole reason a jury works; each juror can come to their own conclusion. Tautologically that requires them to be able to decide differently than the rest of the group.

    • chewypoops@lemmy.world
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      20 hours ago

      Fun fact: There are legal rules for being on a jury, your “opinion” notwithstanding.

      The misogynistic MAGA activist on the Jury whom you are praising admitted that he had doubts on her guilt, but stuck with his guilty verdict anyway. That isn’t just illegal, it’s unconstitutional.

      You cannot acknowledge the constitutional requirement for innocence, and then insist on guilt anyway while under oath as a Juror. It’s perjury.

      • wagesj45@fedia.io
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        51 minutes ago

        First of all, didn’t praise him. Seems like you missed the multiple times in my response I pointed out I wasn’t making comment on the correctness of his decision. Whether you just missed it or are deliberately ignoring it for the sake of getting to be a dick online, I can’t tell.

        Second, I dont know what he did or didn’t say (I didn’t follow the case, remember?), that’s his fault for saying anything about his decision. In fact, that’s what my entire post hinged on; the concept that a juror does not and should not be forced to divulge their reasoning. The ability for a juror to disagree with the group is what makes a jury work at all.

        Whether or not he committed perjery in this instance is not relevant to my post, which was more a comment on how a juror must be free to disagree with the jury otherwise the whole thing falls apart.

  • isekaihero@ani.social
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    21 hours ago

    Three dead children isn’t enough evidence? Are you all fucking insane?

    11 of those 12 jurors should never serve on a jury again. Fucking insane nutjobs.

    • Geologist@lemmy.zip
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      20 hours ago

      The trial was never about if she killed the kids or not (everyone is in agreement she did it), it was about if she was legally insane when it occurred.

      • rollerbang@lemmy.world
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        20 hours ago

        Certainly not everybody is in agreement that she did. Many people are blaming the husband.

        • w3dd1e@lemmy.zip
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          19 hours ago

          Idk why you got downvoted for this. You didn’t say you blamed the husband, you just stated a fact.

        • Wataba@sh.itjust.works
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          19 hours ago

          Give all the shit surrounding him, yeah I entirely believe he manipulated things to go his way. Embezzling donations while skimping on the kid’s gravestone (singular) after he cremated them in defiance of local law? That piece of shit is endemic of America as it stands.

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    2 days ago

    This is strange, we know there was expert testimony that Clancy was not suffering psychosis. Did the jurors simply forget that testimony or was there further conflicting testimony that actually cast doubt?

    The public reaction and copycat killing are disturbing to say the least.

    • DrunkenDuckling@lemmus.org
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      24 hours ago

      Yeah but didn’t the defense also have an expert testify the opposite?

      A singular expert’s opinion is never a “case closed” matter.

    • chewypoops@lemmy.world
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      20 hours ago

      John Oliver did a whole episode about “expert testimony”. I recommend watching it so that you don’t ask stupid questions like this again.

      Tl:Dr: “Expert” isn’t a title or a credential that matters, and “expert testimony” is often just complete horseshit.

      • Cypher@aussie.zone
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        19 hours ago

        The expert in this case was a qualified and practicing psychologist, but if you looked it up first you wouldn’t make stupid statements.

        • ryathal@sh.itjust.works
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          12 hours ago

          Insurance companies have plenty of qualified and practicing doctors to say your prescribed treatment isn’t medically necessary.

    • m0darn@lemmy.ca
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      This is strange, we know there was expert testimony that Clancy was not suffering psychosis

      My understanding is that the prosecution expert said that she hadn’t given her doctors reason to suspect she was experiencing psychosis.

      Ie, he didn’t say that she wasn’t psychotic when she murdered her kids.

      The expert then conceded a lot of points to the defence about how psychosis could have set in quickly.

      But I might not be recalling properly.

    • lightnsfw@reddthat.com
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      The articles I read about the first 3 that spoke out seemed like they had an axe to grind. I’m not putting much stock in their opinions.

    • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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      21 hours ago

      It was never about acquittal, it was about spending her life in prison, or a prison for the criminally insane. Your MAGA holdout blew it entirely, and got her released. Good job.

      Once again, virtuosic incompetence at work.

      • CaptPretentious@lemmy.world
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        5 hours ago

        The holdout was voting guilty. How is the 1 person voting guilty a “MAGA”. Honestly explain that. She killed those kids. Also, should MAGA be added to Godwin’s Law, because FFS.

        • davetortoise@reddthat.com
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          Lose the guilty/not guilty angle, she’s going to jail either way. He was insisting that she wasn’t legally insane when it happened. Despite a mountain of evidence.