A lawyer for Lindsay Clancy is asking a judge to investigate the conduct of the lone juror who wanted to convict the Massachusetts mother in the deaths of her three young children, according to reporting adapted from the Associated Press.
In a motion filed Friday and made public Monday, attorney Kevin Reddington asked the court to question juror Michael Desronvil about alleged cellphone use during deliberations, his answers on a pretrial questionnaire, and his responses when jurors were questioned by the judge the day before the trial ended.
Reddington also asked the court to obtain records of any calls or texts Desronvil made between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on each day of jury deliberations. Cellphone use during deliberations is prohibited in Massachusetts.
Mistrial Followed a Deep Jury Split
The judge declared a mistrial on Sept. 4 after jurors said they could not reach a unanimous verdict despite days of deliberations.
Eleven of the 12 jurors were prepared to clear Clancy of criminal responsibility, according to the report. The majority believed she was experiencing postpartum psychosis when she strangled her children.
Desronvil sided with prosecutors, who argued Clancy knew what she was doing. He has not been accused of wrongdoing in connection with his jury service.
Some jurors complained that Desronvil was inflexible in his view that Clancy was guilty. In a statement released by his lawyer last week, Desronvil said he “didn’t have any doubts.”
Defense Also Seeks Dismissal
In a separate motion Monday, another Clancy attorney, Martin Weinberg, asked the judge to dismiss the criminal case rather than allow a new trial.
Weinberg argued that the mistrial should not have been declared because the judge had another option: replacing Desronvil with an alternate after the jury foreperson complained that he was refusing to listen to the law on reasonable doubt.
“Contrary to the court’s stated believe at the time, it did have viable choices other than declaring a mistrial,” Weinberg wrote, according to the report.
A spokesperson for Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz declined to comment on the motions.
Clancy Remains Charged
Prosecutors have not said whether they will try Clancy again. She remains charged with murder and is being held in a psychiatric hospital until the case is resolved.
At trial, jurors heard from psychologists and clinicians who treated Clancy for months before the killings. The testimony concerned worsening mental health problems that emerged after the birth of her youngest child.
Clancy had been released from a psychiatric hospital less than three weeks before she killed her children, according to the report.
