As Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial continues to await a verdict, a woman has been charged with aggravated intimidation of a juror.
Dawn Light, 56, was arrested on Tuesday accused of taking photos of jury members outside the Plymouth, Massachusetts courthouse.
Prosecutors said court officers called state police involved in the Clancy case after it was reported someone might have been filming jurors in a parking lot outside the court.
However, Light insists she was waiting to see if Clancy, 36, who is on trial for the 2023 murders of her three children — Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months — would come out of the building.
Light’s lawyer has called the incident a misunderstanding as she pleaded not guilty to the charge of intimidation of a juror, witness, police or court official.
Prosecutors requested $50,000 cash bail, but the judge released Light on personal recognisance, with several conditions.
These include staying away from the courthouse grounds, having no contact with jurors or witnesses in the Clancy trial, and refraining from disseminating any of the photos or videos she took.
After identifying Light, state police requested to see her phone and say they found a deleted video of people leaving the courthouse.
It was later confirmed that the individuals in the footage were jurors in the Lindsay Clancy trial. Light was subsequently taken into custody.
After the arraignment, a frenzy of reporters gathered around Light in a similar fashion to how Clancy’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, is approached when leaving the courthouse.
When one person asked her: ‘Why did you want to see Lindsay [Clancy]?,’ Light shrugged and replied, ‘Why not?’
Light’s attorney, Jennifer White, told Judge William Sullivan — who is presiding over the Clancy case and had issued an order specifically prohibiting the photographing or filming of jurors — that her client was ‘seeking a picture of Ms. Clancy and had no interaction with the jurors.’
White also stated Light is a registered nurse with no criminal record and is not a flight risk when arguing against the bail request.
Assistant District Attorney Nicole Piacentini in Duxbury, Massachusetts — the town where the Clancy couple and their children were living at the time of the killings — weighed in on the severity of Light’s actions.
She said: ‘It’s very clear that this is a situation that is very serious for the Commonwealth. This is a case in which she is filming jurors that are coming out of the building.
‘The courthouse has taken extraordinary measures to protect the sanctity of the trial. This individual is not only videoing jurors coming in and out of the courthouse, she went back there to a restricted area.’
It was revealed that Light had parked her blue Toyota in a restricted area behind the courthouse.
‘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,’ Piacentini said.
Speaking about Judge Sullivan’s juror restrictions, the attorney added: ‘Although she states she was looking for Lindsay Clancy to come out of the courthouse, it was clear she was filming the jurors.
‘Court officers were able to determine she was filming the jurors. She was in clear violation of the order by Judge Sullivan in this case.’
Light is scheduled to return to court on October 15 for a pretrial hearing.
Clancy doesn’t deny killing her children before attempting suicide by self-harming and jumping out of a second-floor window — an action that left her paralysed from the waist down.
But she has pleaded not guilty to murder, with her lawyers arguing she was in the throes of postpartum psychosis and taking powerful drugs to cope with depression at the time, leaving her not criminally responsible for her actions.
However, the prosecution claims she made a calculated decision to kill her children.
They also allege that Clancy deliberately sent her ex-husband and father of her children, Patrick Clancy, out on an errand at the time of the killings so that she was free to commit the crimes.
After more than five weeks in court, over 70 prosecution witnesses and 10 for the defence, the jury — made up of nine women and three men — has yet to reach a unanimous verdict on Clancy’s fate.
Following five days of deliberations, the jury is yet to reach a decision, with the judge declaring a second deadlock. Judge Sullivan has directed them to continue for a sixth day as they attempt to reach a verdict.
The case is one of the most unique — and tragic — in modern times, having drawn worldwide attention to postpartum mental health.
For many, it has sparked widespread recognition and outrage over the barriers women face in accessing care, and the lack of research into postpartum mental health conditions.
The jury is due to reconvene today at 9am local time (2pm GMT) for a sixth day of deliberations.
They are tasked with deciding between five possible charges. These are:
- not guilty
- not guilty by reason of insanity
- first-degree murder
- second-degree murder
- manslaughter
The trial continues.