Lindsay Clancy trial holdout juror defends vote
A mistrial in the Lindsay Clancy case prompts holdout juror Michael P. Desronvil to defend his position through a statement. Criminal defense attorney Mercedes Colwin breaks down the juror's reasoning and outlines potential next steps for prosecutors in Massachusetts, including a possible retrial or negotiated plea deal as the high-profile legal battle continues.
Lindsay Clancy's legal team is calling for an investigation into the holdout juror who wanted to find her guilty of murder charges in connection with the strangling deaths of her three young children.
Clancy attorney Kevin Reddington is asking a Massachusetts judge to preserve juror records from all 12 panelists and six alternates, including their questionnaires, courthouse hallway surveillance video taken outside the deliberation room, and sign-in sheets for the jurors' cellphones.
Reddington is asking the court to and conduct a "limited inquiry" into the holdout and for information on any potential background checks stemming from a February motion for access to prospective juror information filed by Plymouth County prosecutors.
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Michael P. Desronvil, left, the lone holdout juror who forced a mistrial in the Lindsay Clancy case, has retained an attorney who once represented President Donald Trump. Clancy, right, faced three counts of first-degree murder in the strangling deaths of her three children. (Facebook/Brittany K and Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
He's also seeking the holdout's juror questionnaire and any supplemental filings, probation records, and "Juror Doe's record from the statewide domestic violence registry." He is asking the judge to require prosecutors to divulge whether it has had any contact with the holdout as a defendant, complainant or subject going back to January 2021.
Additionally, Reddington is looking for the holdout's phone records between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on each deliberation day and asking for the court to order an independent examination into his phone use during the deliberation period.
Read the motion:
Lastly, he wants the holdout to be grilled regarding the truthfulness of his juror questionnaire and voir dire answers, his statements to the court on Sept. 3, and the use of a phone or outside information during deliberations.
Michael P. Desronvil, the lone holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial, which ended in a mistrial. (Fugitive TV)
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"The court may also hear from Juror Nop. 10 limited to what he observed of Juror Doe's phone use," Reddingtong advised in the filing.
LINDSAY CLANCY JUROR ADMITTED 'REASONABLE DOUBT' BUT STILL REFUSED INSANITY VERDICT, FOREPERSON SAYS
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington addresses reporters as jurors weigh the case against Lindsay Clancy in the 2023 deaths of her three children. (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO / AFP via Getty Images)
Clancy's trial was declared a mistrial on Sept. 4 after jurors deadlocked 11-1 in favor of finding her not criminally responsible for the slayings due to mental illness or defect. Her defense had claimed she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and repeatedly sought help to no avail.
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Prosecutors argued that she acted deliberately and understood that strangling her children one by one with exercise bands was wrong.
Judge William Sullivan indicates he was going to declare a mistrial before changing course and giving Lindsay Clancy's defense attorney one hour to appeal as the jury in the case has indicated they they are unable to reach a verdict on Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, in Plymouth, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
The lone holdout juror is referred to only as "Juror Doe" in the motion due to the court's impoundment order protecting the jurors' identities.
Callan, left, Dawson and Cora Clancy. The three children were killed at their Duxbury, Massachusetts, home in January 2023. (Lindsay Marie Clancy/Facebook)
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Prosecutors have not yet officially announced whether they'll seek a new trial for Clancy, who faces three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months.
Clancy's attorney has separately asked the court to overrule the holdout and declare her not guilty, a routine motion that experts nonetheless have said rarely succeeds.
