Karen Read's attorney David Yannetti on deadlocked Lindsay Clancy jury: "You see a lot of mistrials in this situation"

Lindsay Clancy's murder trial jury signaled for a second time that it remains deadlocked, sending the trial closer to a potential mistrial due to a hung jury. It's a scenario that is very familiar to David Yannetti, who was one of Karen Read's defense attorneys during her high-profile Massachusetts trials.

After jurors in Clancy's trial told Plymouth Superior Judge William Sullivan Wednesday that they are still deadlocked, he read them what is known as the "Tuey-Rodriguez" instruction. It is considered a "dynamite charge" aimed at getting the jurors to reach a verdict.

Judge Beverly Cannone gave Tuey-Rodriguez instructions to the jury as Yannetti sat with his client, Karen Read, during her first trial in 2024. A mistrial was later declared. A year later, Read was acquitted.

"By the time they come back hung a second time, that's when Tuey Rodriguez comes in. I think you're really, most of the time, headed for a mistrial at that point," Yannetti told WBZ-TV's Kristina Rex. "I've seen it happen both ways. Sometimes I've seen juries come back fairly quickly after a Tuey-Rodriguez with a verdict. I'd say more often than not I've seen hung juries. That doesn't tell you anything about this particular jury."

Karen Read's attorney on deadlocked jury

Yannetti was asked what it is like to be in a situation where the jury remains deadlocked.

"It is a very difficult position to be in. It can be upsetting. Speaking from experience, during the first Karen Read trial, this is pretty much how it went for us. We sent the jury out and we were very confident we had persuaded everybody that they should come back not guilty. We expected a quick verdict despite the length of the trial," Yannetti said. "And when it dragged on, you can't help but speculate on, what's going on in there? How can somebody not go along with us? Who's fighting? Who's with us, who's not? And you have zero answers because nobody's in that jury room."

The defense attorney said that sometimes when deadlocked jurors come back into the courtroom, you "can almost glean who's fighting with whom. You're rooting for your side."

In his experience, Yannetti said he believes it is tougher to get a deliberating juror to change from not guilty to guilty than the other way around.

"The not guilty jurors generally have a little more ammunition than the guilty jurors, but still you see a lot of mistrials in this situation," Yannetti said.

Yannetti was asked about Clancy's defense attorney, Kevin Reddington.

"I've been in his position. As the jury's out, as a trial attorney we go into this profession because we're control freaks. We like to be in control. When a jury's out, for me it's torture. I'm not in control at all. I can't say anything else to sway them," Yannetti said. "In the Read case we had a team and we could all commiserate together."

David Yannetti says "this case is a little different"

Yannetti said he has not been following the Clancy case closely, as he's been occupied with his own clients. But he said, "you can't avoid it," and he's seen many clips on social media.

Reddington has conceded that Clancy killed her three children inside her Duxbury, Massachusetts, home. But he argues she should be found not guilty by reason of insanity because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.

"From what I've seen, this case is a little different. This case, seems to me, is a woman that was crying out for help that couldn't get it. Everybody knew she needed the help. She never got it. It's a situation where, from what I've seen anyway, this appears to be true mental illness at the time and really backs up the claim of lack of criminal responsibility. These defenses often fail."

Read's attorney added that the fact that deliberations have lasted this long shows that Reddington made a strong case.

"The fact that there's been a Tuey-Rodriguez instruction given and that the jury is really struggling with that means that Kevin Reddington has succeeded," Yannetti said. "He has persuaded some on the jury, in my view, that she should not be convicted, and the reason is lack of criminal responsibility."

Deliberations are scheduled to resume Thursday at 9 a.m.