Lindsay Clancy Lawyers Seek Inquiry Into Lone Holdout Juror After Mistrial

Lindsay Clancy's lawyers have asked a judge to investigate the one juror who voted to convict her of murder. The Guardian

The motion was filed Friday and made public Monday, 21 September. It asks the court to question the juror about alleged cellphone use during deliberations, about whether he answered honestly on a pre-trial questionnaire for potential jurors, and about whether he answered honestly when the judge questioned jurors a day before the trial ended.

Defense lawyer Kevin Reddington asked the court to obtain records of any calls or texts by the juror, identified as Michael Desronvil, between 8am and 4:30pm on each day the jury deliberated. Phone use during deliberations is barred under state rules. In a separate request, he asked for court review of Desronvil's past criminal and domestic violence records.

Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial on 4 September after the jury said it could not reach a unanimous verdict, meaning all 12 jurors could not agree. The Boston Globe

The split was 11 to 1. Eleven jurors were ready to clear Clancy of criminal responsibility. The majority concluded she was experiencing postpartum psychosis, a severe mental illness that can follow childbirth, when she strangled her children.

The jury deliberated for 38 hours before the mistrial. On 2 September, jurors remained deadlocked and were told to resume deliberations the next day. They were scheduled to return Friday for a sixth day before proceedings ended. Reuters Reddington said at the time that a single juror was preventing a unanimous decision.

Desronvil, through his lawyer Edward Paltzik, said he "didn't have any doubts Clancy knew what she was doing when she killed her three children." Other jurors have disputed his approach to deliberations. Three jurors said the holdout admitted he had reasonable doubt about guilt but would not vote to acquit, or clear her. One juror described the holdout's behavior during deliberations as 'disgusting.' Nick Dargie was one of the 12 jurors who deliberated.

In a second motion Monday, Clancy's lawyers asked the judge to dismiss the case instead of holding a new trial. They argued the judge should have replaced the holdout with an alternate, a backup juror, after the foreperson complained he was refusing to follow the law on reasonable doubt, the standard that guilt must be proven so clearly that no reasonable uncertainty remains.

Clancy remains charged with murder and is in a psychiatric hospital until the case is resolved. The judge ordered jurors' names to be sealed for two weeks after the mistrial. A spokesperson for Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz would not comment on the motions.

The broader context here is what the defense is trying to settle before any retrial. One request tests whether alleged phone use or inaccurate answers during jury selection affected deliberations. The other tests whether the court should have removed the holdout while the jury was still seated. Both ask Sullivan to resolve how the 11-1 deadlock was handled, and both will shape whether prosecutors can seek a second trial and on what terms.