Quick recap
A defense lawyer for Lindsay Clancy has asked a judge to dig into the behavior of the one juror who refused to go along with the rest of the panel and wanted a guilty verdict. The motion alleges the juror may have used a cellphone during deliberations and might not have been truthful in pretrial questionnaires or during a follow-up questioning session.
What the defense is asking for
The motion requests the court to question juror Michael Desronvil and to obtain any phone records showing calls or texts between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on the days the jury was deliberating. In Massachusetts, using phones during deliberations is a no-no, and the defense says that potential violations — plus possible false answers earlier in the process — deserve a closer look.
How the split on the jury played out
The judge declared a mistrial after the jury said it could not reach a unanimous decision. Reportedly, 11 of the 12 jurors favored clearing Clancy of criminal responsibility, largely because they believed she was suffering from postpartum psychosis when the children died. Desronvil was the lone juror siding with the prosecution, which argued she understood what she was doing.
Juror reaction and pushback
Desronvil hasn’t been accused of any criminal conduct related to his jury service. Other jurors described him as stubborn in his view that Clancy was guilty. Desronvil’s attorney pushed back hard, calling the defense motion an unfair attack on a juror who stood firm and framing it as an assault on the justice system.
Another unusual move from the defense
Separately, another lawyer for Clancy asked the judge to toss the case instead of scheduling a new trial. The argument: the judge should have swapped in an alternate juror after the foreperson complained that Desronvil wouldn’t accept the legal standard for reasonable doubt, rather than declaring a mistrial.
Where things stand now
Prosecutors have not yet said whether they will try Clancy again. She remains charged with murder and is currently in a psychiatric facility while the legal process plays out.
Case background
At trial, clinicians and mental health professionals testified about Clancy’s declining mental state after the birth of her youngest child. Her treating doctors said she had severe symptoms in the months before the deaths and that she had been discharged from a psychiatric hospital less than three weeks before the tragedy.
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