A Massachusetts true-crime buff accused of filming jurors in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial was released without posting bail Wednesday after her attorney called the explosive courthouse incident a misunderstanding.
Dawn Light, 56, had a not-guilty plea entered on her behalf to one count of intimidation of a witness, juror or person furnishing information in connection with criminal proceedings.
Prosecutors asked that the mother of three be held on $50,000 cash bail, arguing her alleged actions threatened the integrity of the blockbuster trial.
“This individual is not only videoing jurors that are coming in and out of the courthouse, she went back there, to a restricted area. She was in that restricted area,” a prosecutor told the judge on Wednesday.
“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.”
Light was arrested Tuesday afternoon, shortly after jurors in the Lindsay Clancy trial were sent home following their fourth day of deliberations at Plymouth Superior Court.
The panel had informed Judge William Sullivan earlier Tuesday that it could not reach a unanimous verdict. Sullivan instructed jurors to continue deliberating, but they later asked to leave for the evening.
Authorities allege Light was sitting in a vehicle in a restricted parking area behind the courthouse and recording people as they exited the building.
Police allegedly discovered a deleted video showing jurors leaving the courthouse after searching Light’s phone, according to prosecutors.
Light, a self-described crime junkie and Lindsay Clancy supporter, maintained that she had been waiting to catch a glimpse of the 36-year-old defendant.
🚨 JUST IN: 56-year-old woman Dawn Light is being ARRAIGNED in court for INTIMIDATING Lindsay Clancy m*rder trial jurors — facing up to 20 YEARS in prison at maximum
There she is.
FELONY charge of jury intimidation — she was videoing the jurors in a restricted areas
She is… pic.twitter.com/H5UGkPAYYk
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 2, 2026
She told CT Insider that she quickly lowered her phone after realizing the person she was recording was not Clancy.
“I don’t know how I intimidated anyone,” she said.
Her attorney said Light had no plans to approach or communicate with members of the jury.
“My client was seeking a picture of Ms. Clancy and had no intention of any interaction with the jurors.”
The defense also pushed back against the prosecution’s demand for $50,000 bail, telling the court that Light is a retired nurse living on a fixed income and could not afford to post the requested amount.
“She’s resided in Sutton, Massachusetts for over 30 years and raised her children there. She is not a flight risk and obviously has strong ties to the community,” her lawyer said.
The judge released Light without requiring her to post bail but imposed several strict conditions.
Light must stay away from the courthouse grounds except when required to appear, avoid contact with jurors and witnesses connected to the Lindsay Clancy case, preserve potential evidence and refrain from distributing any photographs or videos tied to the allegation.
She is due back in court Oct. 15 for a pretrial hearing.
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Lindsay Clancy defense attorney Kevin Reddington was spotted two floors below the courtroom where his client’s trial was underway Wednesday morning. CT Insider reported that Reddington was there for an unrelated case, not specifically to attend Light’s arraignment.
Light has attended several days of Clancy’s closely watched murder trial and previously followed other high-profile proceedings, including the Karen Read trial in Massachusetts and Alex Murdaugh’s case in South Carolina.
Public records reviewed by The U.S. Sun show Light worked as a registered nurse in Massachusetts for 29 years before her license expired in 2022.
She reportedly has no previous criminal record aside from a Florida traffic citation for making an improper U-turn.
Light also endured two devastating family losses years before becoming a fixture at nationally watched trials.
Her husband, Daniel J. Light, died in 2013 following a battle with ALS. Her 22-year-old son, Zachary, died after suffering a seizure in January 2017.
Light made headlines three months later when the ground above her son’s grave collapsed while she was visiting the cemetery in Millbury, causing her to fall into the burial plot.
“All the sudden, I looked and my right foot – leg – was in the dirt past my knee,” she told Boston NBC affiliate WBTS at the time.
Light said she fell into the ground above her son’s casket and struggled to pull herself free.
“The ground was frozen in snow,” she said. “I had to dig to get myself out of a hole.”
She returned about a week later after the town attempted to repair the site, only to find that the grave had sunk again.
“The grave was an outline of a coffin, and sunk down many inches,” Light said. “I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I’m doing this again.”
Light and Millbury officials said part of the problem could be traced to a cemetery error in 2011, when two other people were mistakenly buried in plots belonging to her family.
Her arrest injected another jolt of drama into the Lindsay Clancy trial as jurors struggled to agree on whether the former labor and delivery nurse was criminally responsible for killing her three young children in January 2023.
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