Woman charged with juror intimidation at Lindsay Clancy trial

Jurors deliberating the verdict in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial have been questioned by the judge after a woman was accused of filming them as they left the courthouse a day earlier.Dawn Light, 56, of Sutton, Massachusetts, was arraigned on Wednesday, local time, at the same courthouse in Plymouth, south of Boston, where she was yesterday seen filming jurors outside a day prior.Warning: This story contains details that may be distressing for some readers.She was charged with intimidation of a witness, jurors or person furnishing information in connection with criminal proceedings. A not-guilty plea was entered on her behalf and she was released without having to post bail, but was ordered to stay away from the court, the jurors and any witnesses.Ms Light was attending the courthouse where Ms Clancy has been on trial for five weeks.Jurors are still deliberating Ms Clancy's verdict after five days. She is charged with murdering her three children in 2023.The former labour and delivery nurse does not deny strangling her three young children at the family's Massachusetts home, but has said postpartum psychosis led to her actions. Prosecutors argued she knew what she was doing. Dawn Light was charged with intimidation in connection with the Lindsay Clancy's murder trial. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP)Ms Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility.Ms Clancy's live-streamed trial has generated intense interest, with reporters and spectators packing the courtroom. The case has also sparked deep public divisions over her culpability and the issues around maternal mental health after childbirth.The jurors had told Judge William Sullivan on Tuesday that they were unable to reach a unanimous decision, but he instructed them to keep trying — a common instruction in criminal trials when juries say they're having trouble reaching a verdict.Judge William Sullivan has asked jurors to continue deliberating after they earlier said they could not reach a unanimous verdict. (AP: Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger/Pool)'Crime junkie' claims juror ordeal a 'misunderstanding'Surrounded by reporters while going to her car, Ms Light was asked why she filmed outside the courthouse on Tuesday, local time."To see Lindsay. And I did see her. She was getting picked up by the van," she said.Ms Light's attorney, Jennifer White, called it a "misunderstanding" and said the retired nurse was only trying to take a photo of Ms Clancy and "not interact with the jurors."Dawn Light faces her own media frenzy after being arraigned with intimidation in connection to the Lindsay Clancy murder trial. (AP: Leah Willingham)Light described herself as a "crime junkie" and Ms Clancy supporter, in an interview with Hearst Connecticut Media Group before her arraignment.Assistant District Attorney Nicole Piacentini said Ms Light was parked in a restricted area behind the courthouse and is accused of filming the jurors as they left court. Ms Light told state police that she was waiting to film Ms Clancy and denied recording jurors, however, troopers found video of jurors in her phone's deleted-files folder, Ms Piacentini said."The sanctity of the judicial system is at risk because of her actions," Ms Piacentini told a judge during the arraignment.AP