Lindsay Clancy back in court over dismissal motion after hung jury
Lindsay Clancy, 36, returned to court Monday for a hearing that could shape whether her murder case proceeds to a second trial. A dismissal motion centres on allegations about a holdout juror.
Clancy murder case heads back to court as dismissal motion looms
Lindsay Clancy, 36, appeared in court on Monday for a pivotal hearing that may determine whether she faces a second trial on first-degree murder charges, boston.com reports.
Clancy has a pending motion to dismiss the charges relating to the deaths of her three children — 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan — who were killed at the family home in Duxbury on 24 January 2023. She has not denied strangling the children, but her defence rests on an insanity claim, arguing she was experiencing postpartum psychosis and heard a voice commanding her to kill the children and herself.
The dismissal motion centres heavily on Michael Desronvil, the lone holdout juror from Clancy's first trial who refused to find her not guilty of criminal responsibility. Her first trial ended in a hung jury and mistrial on 4 September. Shortly after that verdict, Desronvil's conduct during jury service came under scrutiny amid reports of personal legal troubles and alleged phone use during deliberations.
Defence attorney Kevin Reddington requested an evidentiary hearing to establish whether Desronvil had been candid about his legal history during jury selection — a request that Judge William Sullivan subsequently denied. Reddington also asked Sullivan to privately examine Desronvil's phone records from each day of deliberations to determine whether the juror had been exposed to information from outside the trial.
Separately, prosecutors have filed a motion for a gag order that would prevent Reddington from making public statements capable of influencing the outcome of the proceedings. The Plymouth County District Attorney's Office has not yet indicated whether it plans to retry Clancy on first-degree murder, pursue reduced charges, or seek a plea agreement.
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)