Lindsay Clancy defence seeks probe into holdout juror after murder mistrial

Clancy's lawyer has asked a Massachusetts judge to investigate the sole juror who pushed for conviction, citing alleged phone use during deliberations.

Clancy defence targets holdout juror's conduct after Massachusetts mistrial

Defence lawyer Kevin Reddington has filed a motion asking a Plymouth, Massachusetts judge to investigate the one juror who refused to acquit Lindsay Clancy of murdering her three young children, apnews.com reported Monday.

The motion, filed Friday but made public on Monday, asks the court to question juror Michael Desronvil over his alleged use of a mobile phone during jury deliberations — a practice prohibited under Massachusetts law. Reddington requested that the court obtain records of any calls or texts Desronvil made between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on each day the jury deliberated.

The motion also raises questions about Desronvil's truthfulness on the pre-trial questionnaire completed by prospective jurors, and his responses when the judge questioned jurors a day before the trial concluded.

Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial on 4 September after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict following several days of deliberations. Eleven of the twelve jurors were prepared to clear Clancy of criminal responsibility, with the majority concluding she had been in the grip of postpartum psychosis when she strangled her three children. Desronvil alone sided with prosecutors, who argued Clancy was aware of her actions.

Desronvil has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing related to his jury service. In a statement released through his lawyer last week, he said he "didn't have any doubts." Other jurors had complained that he was inflexible and unwilling to engage with legal arguments around reasonable doubt.

In a separate motion filed Monday, a second Clancy defence lawyer, Martin Weinberg, called on the judge to take the unusual step of dismissing the criminal charges outright rather than proceeding to a retrial. Weinberg argued the mistrial should never have been declared, contending the judge had viable alternatives — including replacing Desronvil with an alternate juror after the jury foreperson reported he was refusing to apply the law on reasonable doubt.

"Contrary to the court's stated belief at the time, it did have viable choices other than declaring a mistrial," Weinberg wrote in the motion.

A spokesperson for Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz declined to comment on either motion. Prosecutors have yet to announce whether they intend to retry Clancy.

Clancy remains charged with murder and is currently held in a psychiatric hospital pending resolution of her case. During the trial, the jury heard testimony from psychologists and clinicians who treated her in the months before the killings, during which her mental health deteriorated significantly following the birth of her youngest child. She had been discharged from a psychiatric hospital fewer than three weeks before the deaths of her children.

Source: Google News MT