We are calling for the immediate resignation of Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz.

The mistrial in Commonwealth v. Lindsay Clancy should have forced serious reflection from the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.

Instead, after a six-week trial, more than 80 witnesses, hundreds of exhibits, and approximately 38 hours of jury deliberations over seven days, the case ended without a unanimous verdict. Reporting indicated an apparent 11–1 split, with defense counsel saying one holdout prevented the other eleven jurors from reaching a not-guilty verdict based on lack of criminal responsibility. 

The foreperson also reported that the lone juror had acknowledged doubt but was refusing to apply that doubt to the verdict as the law required. Judge William Sullivan ultimately declined to remove the juror and declared a mistrial after the panel again reported that it was hopelessly deadlocked. 

That outcome matters.

The central legal question was not simply whether Lindsay Clancy caused the deaths of her children. The trial focused heavily on whether she was criminally responsible at the time.

The jury heard extensive evidence regarding severe psychiatric illness, postpartum psychosis, psychiatric hospitalization, medication, suicidal thinking, and competing expert opinions about her ability to understand right from wrong and conform her behavior to the law. Prosecutors acknowledged that Lindsay had significant mental-health problems but argued that she nevertheless planned the killings and remained criminally responsible. 

After all of that evidence, the Commonwealth still did not obtain a unanimous guilty verdict.

Yet District Attorney Timothy Cruz immediately continued publicly defending the prosecution and has said that his office will decide “shortly” whether to prosecute Lindsay Clancy again. 

That raises a fundamental question:

Can Timothy Cruz objectively reassess this case, or has his conclusion already been made?

Prosecutorial discretion is one of the most powerful authorities government gives an elected official.

It requires judgment.

It requires restraint.

It requires humility.

And most importantly, it requires the willingness to reconsider when the evidence does not persuade a jury.

Justice does not mean prosecuting someone repeatedly until the government finally obtains the result it wants.

Justice also does not require pretending that an 11–1 jury division is meaningless simply because it did not produce a final verdict.

We are also asking for greater transparency regarding how this investigation was conducted.

The public deserves to know:

• Which statements attributed to Lindsay were independently corroborated?

• How were statements made while she was severely injured, hospitalized, medicated, or psychiatrically unstable evaluated?

• How thoroughly were witness accounts independently tested?

• What alternative explanations were investigated?

• What safeguards existed to ensure that investigators were testing the prosecution’s theory rather than simply building a case around it?

Asking these questions is not an attack on Cora, Dawson, or Callan.

Their deaths were horrific.

Their lives mattered.

And acknowledging severe mental illness does not diminish the tragedy of what happened to them.

Lindsay remains in custody and psychiatric care at Tewksbury State Hospital while Cruz decides whether to retry her. 

So what exactly would another prosecution accomplish?

Another trial would consume substantial public resources.

It would force this family through the evidence again.

It would put another jury through an extraordinarily traumatic case.

And it would give the Commonwealth another opportunity to obtain a conviction after eleven jurors reportedly rejected its theory the first time.

Elected prosecutors are not above accountability.

Timothy Cruz has held the office of Plymouth County District Attorney for decades. Longevity does not make an elected office personal property.

That office belongs to the public.

And public confidence in the judgment of the person holding it matters.

We believe Timothy Cruz’s response to this mistrial, his continued defense of this prosecution, and the serious unanswered questions surrounding the case demonstrate that new leadership is needed.

We are calling on Timothy J. Cruz to resign immediately as Plymouth County District Attorney.

We are also calling on Massachusetts residents to demand transparency, independent scrutiny, and prosecutorial leadership that understands one basic principle:

The job of a prosecutor is to seek justice — not simply to win.

If you believe elected prosecutors should be accountable to the people they serve, sign this petition and share it.