Understanding Deadlocked Juries and the ‘Tuey-Rodriguez’ Instruction
On Tuesday, a jury in Lindsay Clancy’s trial informed the judge that they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict. This situation, known as a deadlocked jury, has occurred in several recent high-profile cases in Massachusetts, offering insights into how long deliberations might continue if no progress is made. Judge William Sullivan instructed the jurors to keep deliberating after receiving their note. However, the jurors went home around 3:30 p.m. without reaching a verdict.
Hung Jury in Recent Cases
Hung juries have been a notable feature in some high-profile Massachusetts cases. Two significant instances involved Karen Read in 2024 and Emanuel Lopes in 2023 and 2024. Lopes faced charges in connection with the murder of Weymouth Police Sgt. Michael Chesna in 2018. His first trial in 2023 ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury. A similar stalemate occurred during his second trial in 2024. The jury reported being deadlocked three times. After six days and 32 hours of deliberation, they eventually reached a unanimous guilty verdict.
In Karen Read’s initial trial in 2024, a deadlocked jury led to a mistrial declaration. Jurors first reported being deadlocked after 17.5 hours and again after 23.5 hours. Once they indicated an impasse for the third time, the mistrial was declared. Subsequently, Read was acquitted following a second trial a year later.
The ‘Tuey-Rodriguez’ Instruction
In both the Read and Lopes trials, judges used what’s known as a “dynamite” charge to encourage the juries towards a verdict. In Massachusetts, this is referred to as the “Tuey-Rodriguez” instruction, rooted in a 1973 case. This legal tool allows judges to send deadlocked juries back to deliberate twice. If jurors seek legal clarifications, they might be sent for further deliberation.
The instruction includes: “You should consider that it is desirable that the case be decided. You should consider that you have been selected in the same manner, and from the same source, as any future jury would be. There is no reason to suppose that the case will ever be submitted to six persons who are more intelligent, more impartial, or more competent to decide it than you are, or that more or clearer evidence will be produced on one side or the other. With all this in mind, it is your duty to decide this case if you can do so conscientiously.”
If the jury remains deadlocked after this instruction, the judge may declare a mistrial. When a mistrial is declared, the defendant’s conditions revert to the pretrial state. For Clancy, this implies staying in custody at Tewksbury State Hospital under psychiatric care.
The district attorney, Timothy Cruz, would then decide whether to retry Clancy for first-degree murder, pursue lesser charges, or not proceed with another trial.