The Latest: Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial deliberations resume for a 7th day

PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — The deadlocked jury in the Lindsay Clancy trial started a seventh day of deliberations Friday, a day after the foreperson informed the judge that a single juror wasn't following the court’s instructions about reasonable doubt.

The extraordinary disclosure made Thursday in the form of a note delivered to the judge offered the clearest glimpse yet of what may be keeping jurors from reaching a verdict on whether Clancy is criminally responsible for killing her three children. If jurors ultimately cannot agree on a verdict, the judge could declare a mistrial.

Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse, doesn’t deny strangling her children in the basement of their home in 2023. Defense attorney Kevin Reddington blamed postpartum psychosis. Prosecutors said she knew what she was doing.

Postpartum psychosis is estimated to afflict 1 to 2 per 1,000 women after delivery. Experts at the Cleveland Clinic describe it as a mental health emergency affecting someone’s sense of reality. Though most people with postpartum psychosis don’t harm their children, mothers with severe cases may try to do so.

Here’s the latest:

Prosecutors and Reddington are being brought up to a podium and the court clerk showed them something. It is unclear what it was.

Now they’ve returned to their tables and the judge has returned to the bench.

With nearly 100 people packed inside, a court officer told the public outside “there is no more room” and closed the courtroom doors.

First the media and now members of the public are re-entering the courtroom.

The prosecutors are at their table. Reddington is sitting next to Clancy. Clancy’s parents and her sister are two rows back.

There’s a line for media seats that’s 15 people deep, with journalists either standing or sitting on the floor behind an orange cone after court security moved them back from the door.

The benches outside the courtroom are filled with about 20 members of the public, some dressed in pink to show their support for Clancy. Many are waiting to get a seat in the courtroom, which has been filled to capacity.

Reddington urged Sullivan to “forcefully” explain the jury instruction about how to apply reasonable doubt to deliberations, and not use a “soft” approach.

“What do you want me to do? Get a brass band?” the judge responded. “The fact that I perhaps didn’t give it my full inflection — I’m sorry about that but I’m not an actor. I’m just giving the instruction.”

Sullivan then promised to give the instruction again “with more pizzazz,” a remark that caused laughter in the courtroom.

The judge ultimately gave the jurors one more reminder about following his instructions before sending them back to the jury room.

“That juror told you that he would be able to apply the law to the fact as you asked him. Based on this note from this juror it clearly and unequivocally indicates they are 11-1 and this person will not apply reasonable doubt to the evidence to return a not guilty verdict.”

Sullivan disagreed, saying law only allows a juror to be discharged for personal reasons having nothing to do with the case or their relationship with the other jurors.

Before the jury was brought into the courtroom Friday, Reddington beseeched the judge to deal with the juror referenced in the foreperson’s note on Thursday.

“I have never seen a situation like this where a foreperson on the jury is so courageous as to speak on behalf of 11 jurors and indicate that a juror, number which I will not mention, and I quote, ‘has made statements acknowledging doubt but refuses to apply it to the verdict,’” Reddington said.

Reddington said the juror “looked you in the eye and lied” when the judge questioned him after receiving the note.

Criminal defense attorney Joseph Krowski Jr. has been following the trial and commented outside court about the judge’s challenge at this point in the deliberations.

“The jurors aren’t saying that there’s just a factual disagreement with the holdout — they’re saying that that juror is refusing to follow the law,” Krowski said Thursday evening.

“Now, I don’t want to speculate. I’m not in there, and I don’t know what the disagreement is, and how do we know that that juror’s even right or wrong on the law, but you could see the visceral reaction from attorney Reddington, and it looked like to me that he’s frustrated.”

“Judges have to be careful into inquiring into what’s being discussed during deliberation. So if he gets another communication, then I’m sure he would have a very, very confined, carefully constrained voir dire,” Krowski said. “One more communication that they’re at an impasse would mandate a hung jury, mistrial.”

“I wanted to remind you, as I instructed you earlier, it is your duty as jurors to accept the law as I gave it to you,” he told them. “You must follow the law as I give it to you whether you agree with it or not.”

“With that, you may now resume your deliberations.”

Sullivan acknowledged to the jury that he got a note from the jury on Thursday.

“If there are any notes in the future ... make sure we don’t put down where everybody is numerically,” Sullivan told them.

Despite a request from Reddington, Sullivan has ruled that he will not do a further inquiry of the juror.

Court has reopened and reporters and the public have filed in. There is not an empty seat.

The judge is now here and lawyers are discussing further instructions to the jury.

Reddington filed a motion Friday requesting a standing order so there will “be no further sidebars” and that “all related proceedings will be handled in open court.”

Sullivan has often used sidebars to discuss legal issues with the defense and prosecution, especially during jury deliberations. During those sessions, no one in court can hear what is being discussed.

Defense attorney Kevin Reddington told reporters after leaving court Thursday that the foreperson’s note identified the holdout juror to the judge.

He said he’s hoping that before the judge questions that juror on Friday, attorneys on both sides will get to argue over the specifics of that inquiry.

Reddington wants that debate out in the open, not in a private sidebar conversation.

A deadlocked jury returns Friday for the seventh day of deliberations in the Lindsay Clancy trial, a day after the jury’s foreperson informed the judge that a single juror wasn't following the court’s instructions about reasonable doubt.

The extraordinary disclosure made Thursday in the form of a note delivered to the judge offered the clearest glimpse yet of what may be keeping jurors from reaching a verdict on whether the Massachusetts mother is criminally responsible for killing her three children.

The jury has twice told Judge William Sullivan that it is unable to agree on a verdict. On Thursday, Sullivan brought in each juror individually and questioned them in private. The judge then reread his instructions on reasonable doubt before sending them back to continue deliberating. Soon thereafter, he sent them home.

Lindsay Clancy watches jury members as Judge William Sullivan polls them during her murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass., Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)

Judge William Sullivan asks the jury to continue deliberations during Lindsay Clancy's murder trial at Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Mass., Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)

Mike Musgrove, father of Lindsay Clancy, center right, sits with family as they listen to the judge tell the jury to keep discussing a possible verdict after jurors said they couldn't agree for a second time whether Clancy is criminally responsible for killing her three children in 2023, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in Plymouth, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)

Timothy Cruz, Plymouth County District Attorney, center, leaves Plymouth Superior Court, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, in Plymouth, Mass. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds )

Lindsay Clancy and attorney Kevin Reddington watch as Judge William Sullivan tells the jury to keep discussing a possible verdict after jurors said for a second time they couldn't agree whether Lindsay Clancy was criminally responsible for killing her three children in 2023, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026, in Plymouth, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)

CHICAGO (AP) — Diesel hit a record price in the U.S. on Friday, soaring to an average of $5.85 a gallon for the first time as the six-month war with Iran disrupts the world’s flow of fuel.

Because diesel is used for many freight and delivery networks, higher diesel prices mean higher transportation costs for a long list of everyday goods. Some businesses have already passed on costs to consumers in the form of added fees on online orders and packages in the mail. And shoppers may see more and more sticker shock trickle down to store shelves.

One of the most immediate strains is being felt in the grocery aisle, particularly with produce, meat and other perishable foods that need to be hauled in and restocked frequently — or even harvested using diesel-powered farm equipment. It can take time for all of those costs to trickle down.

Still, experts warn that price hikes could mount the longer diesel remains expensive. A range of other products are also transported by diesel trucks, trains and boats, including clothing, cosmetics and furniture.

This could add to Republicans’ political challenges ahead of November’s midterm elections, with many voters already sour on President Donald Trump’s management of the economy and fallout of the war he launched. AP-NORC polling this summer showed 2 out of 3 U.S. adults disapproved of how Trump is handling the economy.

The price for regular gasoline has also been going up, although not as fast as the price of diesel. The average price was $4.15 a gallon, compared with $3.20 at this time last year, according to motor club AAA, which says gas has never been above $4 a gallon on Labor Day.

American diesel prices are now nearly 56% more expensive than they were before the U.S. and Israel launched their war against Iran in late February, when the national average sat at about $3.76 per gallon per AAA. Prices quickly climbed as the cost of crude oil — the main ingredient in diesel, as well as gasoline — soared amid supply chain disruptions across the Middle East, notably with most tanker traffic bottlenecked in the key Strait of Hormuz.

Despite prices cooling some during hopes for peace earlier in the summer, oil has now renewed its climb as fighting once more escalates between the U.S. and Iran. Brent crude, the international standard, was trading at more than $95 a barrel Friday, up from roughly $70 before the war. Prices at the pump always follow closely behind.

The last time businesses and drivers saw sky-high fuel prices was in June 2022, when diesel reached nearly $5.82 a gallon on average months after the Ukraine war began and world leaders imposed sanctions against Russia, a leading oil producer.

When adjusted for inflation, however, prices have been higher in the past. Ahead of the 2008 financial crisis, for example, diesel hit about $4.74 a gallon — equivalent to $7.20 in 2026, according to the government’s latest data. And 2022’s record of nearly $5.82 would be about $6.56 this year when accounting for inflation.

That doesn’t take the pain away from today’s steep prices, which are already bringing ripple effects for the economy and wider costs of living. Drivers are feeling the pain with gasoline, too.

The average $4.15 for a gallon of regular unleaded is up from $2.98 before the Iran war (an over 39% jump), although still well below the 2022 peak of nearly $5.02 a gallon nationwide.

Diesel has been more expensive than gasoline in the U.S. for decades, and its price has risen at a faster pace before. Some reasons include less flexibility in demand and diesel’s position in global commerce overall. Individual households may find ways to drive less when gas prices are high, for example, but there’s fewer immediate substitutes for networks that rely on diesel to haul goods worldwide.

Diesel is integral to every part of the food supply chain. It powers farm equipment and fishing boats as well as the trains and trucks headed to grocery stores.

Fuel accounts for roughly 15% to 30% of the total cost of food, according to the Independent Grocers Alliance, a grouping of 7,500 global supermarkets. So higher diesel costs often result in more expensive groceries, although it can take a while for energy shocks to wind their way through the supply chain.

Items that need to stay refrigerated while they’re transported are often the first to see prices rise, according to David Ortega, a professor of food economics and policy at Michigan State University. In July, for example, overall U.S. grocery prices were up 2.7% compared to a year prior, but seafood prices were up 7% and fresh fruit prices were up 4.9%.

Ortega cautioned other factors can be at play, too. Lettuce also faced higher transportation costs in July, but a drop in demand due to the cyclospora outbreak caused prices to fall.

Still, consumers could feel more of a squeeze the longer diesel prices remain high.

“Early on, much of the cost increase gets absorbed along the supply chain through existing freight contracts and retailer margins,” Ortega said. “But as contracts reprice and fuel surcharges take hold, more of that cost makes its way to the grocery store.”

Back in April, e-commerce giant Amazon rolled out a temporary 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge on some third-party sellers. United Parcel Service, FedEx and the United States Postal Service also moved to add fees on some of the packages they ship earlier in the war, citing rising costs for fuel overall.

Ajesh Kapoor, CEO and founder of trucking technology company SemiCab, said trucking and transportation can adapt to rising diesel prices — but at some point there is a limit.

“Diesel price has a very, very direct impact on everything that moves on pretty much any mode,” Kapoor said.

The ramifications extend beyond consumer goods. Some public transit buses and trains also run on diesel. And diesel generators are often used for backup or emergency power, if not central electricity sources in some remote parts of the world.

Experts warn the consequences could continue to deepen, particularly in African and Asian countries, which rely more on Middle East imports and have already been hit the hardest by energy shocks.

According to the latest data from Global Petrol Prices, diesel prices in Nigeria have surged 90% since late February — followed by nearly 87% in Indonesia and 77% in Lebanon. Price tags vary widely between countries, due to factors ranging from fuel taxes to local economic conditions more broadly. Diesel prices in Nigeria ended August at $4.91 per gallon (1,730 naira per liter) on average. Meanwhile, the highest sticker price reported by Global Petrol Prices was in Hong Kong, where diesel costs have jumped over 25% during the war and averaged at $17.73 a gallon (nearly 37 Hong Kong dollars per liter) Monday.

At a weekly briefing with Lloyd’s List Intelligence, Neil Atkinson, energy analyst and senior fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics, said products like diesel are becoming more expensive while physical stocks dwindle. He pointed to the strain on the global refining system.

“This cannot go on forever," he said.

Associated Press writers Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit, Mae Anderson in New York and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Gas prices are displayed at a gas station in Mount Prospect, Ill., Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

FILE - A nozzle pumps diesel into the fuel tank of bus in Orange, Calif., Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)