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Kevin Reddington claimed one juror was refusing to follow the law after more than 36 hours of deliberations. The judge refused to remove them.
The Lindsay Clancy murder trial returns today for a seventh day of jury deliberations after defense attorney Kevin Reddington unsuccessfully attempted to have an apparent holdout juror removed from the panel.
The extraordinary request came Thursday after Judge William Sullivan received another jury note and held a contentious sidebar with both sides. Jurors were subsequently brought to the bench individually and sworn before Sullivan again instructed them on reasonable doubt. Once the jury had left, Reddington argued that the note showed “one juror who refuses to listen to the law” and asked Sullivan to remove that person. Prosecutors objected to trying to determine what was happening inside deliberations, stressing that no one could know which juror was “correct” or “incorrect.” Sullivan denied the defense request.
Clancy has admitted strangling Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months, but argues she lacked criminal responsibility because of postpartum psychosis. Prosecutors say she was depressed but not psychotic and understood what she was doing. The jury has now deliberated for more than 36 hours and has twice reported being deadlocked. After Sullivan delivered Massachusetts’ Tuey-Rodriguez instruction Wednesday, another declaration of deadlock could bring the case to a mistrial.
Reddington told reporters Thursday that the holdout juror had been identified and suggested an inquiry would follow today. But attempting to remove a juror because you believe that person stands between your client and the verdict you want raises an ugly question about where zealous advocacy ends and what constitutes intimidation. A jury is supposed to reach its verdict through deliberation, not by swapping out the person who refuses to fall into line.
Hot Take: Reddington increasingly looks like a lawyer searching for his Johnnie Cochran moment of national recognition, only becoming a desperate Captain Ahab instead. You don’t get to change the jury because one juror won’t give you the answer you want. That isn’t justice. It’s trying to pick the lock after the door stayed shut.
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Sean Combs could now leave prison more than two weeks earlier than previously projected as his appeal continues.
Sean “Diddy” Combs has received another adjustment to his projected federal prison release date, with Bureau of Prisons records now listing February 5, 2028, rather than February 20.
The 56-year-old Bad Boy Records founder is serving a 50-month sentence after a Manhattan jury convicted him in July 2025 on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Jurors acquitted Combs of the much more serious racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking charges. He was sentenced that October and is incarcerated at the low-security FCI Fort Dix in New Jersey.
The BOP has not publicly explained the latest change, although projected release dates can shift because of sentence calculations, earned credits and other administrative factors. Combs’ lawyers are separately appealing his conviction and sentence, while numerous civil lawsuits remain pending. For the moment, February 5, 2028, is only a projection and could move again before he walks through the prison gates.
Hot Take: Two weeks here, a few days there, and suddenly prison calendars start looking remarkably flexible. Of course, February 2028 only matters if Diddy doesn’t acquire an entirely different legal problem before then — say, prosecutors ever deciding they have something to charge over Tupac Shakur’s murder.
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Laci Peterson’s family is backing a lawsuit challenging rules that critics say could open the door for some life-without-parole prisoners to seek relief.
Scott Peterson could eventually become eligible to seek reconsideration of his life-without-parole sentence under a controversial California parole policy now facing a legal challenge from victims’ advocates.
Peterson, 53, has spent more than two decades imprisoned for murdering his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn son, Conner. Critics of the proposed regulations say prisoners serving life without parole could receive assessments after 25 years, potentially affecting notorious inmates including Peterson, Golden State Killer Joseph DeAngelo and convicted kidnapper Phillip Garrido. Laci’s mother, Sharon Rocha, said families were promised finality and should not spend their lives wondering whether a killer might eventually be released.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office disputes claims that the policy creates a new parole pathway, saying the Board of Parole Hearings would provide only advisory public-safety assessments and that courts or the governor would retain authority over any sentence modification. The Criminal Justice Legal Foundation has sued to stop the regulations before their planned October implementation.
Hot Take: “Life without parole” used to sound remarkably difficult to misunderstand. When families hear those words in a courtroom, they reasonably expect the sentence to mean what it says. Reopening that door decades later guarantees one thing: the victims get dragged back through it too.
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The billionaire investor refused a sworn deposition as lawmakers consider contempt proceedings and demand answers about his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein.
Billionaire investor Leon Black refused to appear for a congressional deposition Thursday and instead sued the House Oversight Committee in an effort to block subpoenas issued during its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.
The committee proceeded with the scheduled deposition anyway, leaving an empty chair where Black was supposed to sit. Black, the former chairman and CEO of Apollo Global Management, paid Epstein $158 million between 2012 and 2017 for tax, estate-planning and related services. He has consistently denied knowing about Epstein’s criminal activities or participating in them, and a 2021 Apollo-commissioned investigation found no evidence that Black was involved in Epstein’s crimes.
The latest dispute centers heavily on nondisclosure agreements. Black says the committee is demanding private agreements unrelated to Epstein and argues the subpoenas exceed Congress’ constitutional authority. Chairman James Comer accused him of “hiding behind litigation,” while ranking Democrat Robert Garcia called for contempt proceedings. A federal judge may now decide whether Congress crossed the line even as lawmakers consider punishing Black for refusing to appear.
Hot Take: Epstein has been dead seven years and the doors around his world still slam shut the moment somebody asks the wrong question. Black says Congress is fishing. Congress says he is hiding. Either way, an empty witness chair has a nasty habit of becoming the most interesting object in the room.
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Federal prosecutors say Thomas Ross told his former campaign manager to frame Republican primary opponent Louise Secker by hiding drugs in her purse or car.
A Missouri legislative race has taken a spectacular turn after Republican candidate Thomas Ross was charged over an alleged plot to plant cocaine and Adderall on his primary opponent.
Federal prosecutors say Ross, 37, gave his former campaign manager drugs in June and discussed placing them inside rival Louise Secker’s purse or vehicle. Court documents allege Ross later asked for updates, while the campaign manager told him he was looking for an opportunity to carry out the scheme. After Joplin police alerted the FBI, the former manager began cooperating with investigators and secretly recorded Ross.
According to prosecutors, the cooperating witness asked whether Ross still wanted him to plant the drugs and make an anonymous report to police. Ross allegedly replied: “If you can pull it off … pull it off.” He has been charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. Ross subsequently defeated Secker in the Republican primary for Missouri House District 161 by only a few dozen votes.
Hot Take: Politics has always involved planting stories. Allegedly planting cocaine is a somewhat more ambitious campaign strategy. When the FBI is listening to your election tactics, the opposition research has probably gone too far.
