Lindsay Clancy’s defense attorney has asked a judge to investigate the phone records of the only juror who opposed acquitting her in the case, which ended in a mistrial earlier this month.
Eleven of the 12 jurors were prepared last Friday to find Clancy not criminally responsible. But because they could not reach a unanimous decision, the judge declared a mistrial, leaving the outcome unresolved.
Both sides agreed that Clancy strangled her children—five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan—in the family’s Massachusetts home in January 2023 before attempting to take her own life.
Her attorney, Kevin Reddington, maintained that Clancy had been a devoted mother suffering from the rare psychiatric condition postpartum psychosis. Prosecutors, however, argued that she understood the nature of her actions.
Michael P. Desronvil, 48, was the lone juror to side with the prosecution. He reportedly said he had no uncertainty about Clancy’s guilt, rejecting the conclusion reached by the other 11 jurors.
Reddington has now asked Judge William Sullivan to review Desronvil’s mobile phone metadata from the period when the jury was deliberating, according to a motion obtained by the New York Times.
The filing also seeks permission for the judge to question Desronvil about whether he was truthful during jury selection and whether he used his phone or consulted information from outside the courtroom during deliberations.
Reddington wants any questioning to take place on the record, with attorneys representing both sides present.
Lindsay Clancy’s lawyer has asked a judge to examine the phone data of the only juror who opposed acquitting her in the case, which ended in a mistrial this month.
The lone holdout juror, Michael P. Desronvil (pictured), said last week that he had no doubts about Clancy’s guilt, rejecting the position taken by the other jurors.
“The inquiry will not touch the substance of deliberations,” the motion states.
It remains uncertain whether the jury’s decision, or the consequences of the mistrial, could ultimately be changed.
Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, has never disputed killing her three children. Instead, she argued that she should be found not guilty by reason of insanity because she was experiencing postpartum psychosis at the time.
While 11 jurors accepted that explanation for the deaths, Desronvil remained unconvinced.
After the mistrial was announced, several jurors publicly criticized Desronvil, accusing him of failing to seriously engage with their arguments. Some described his conduct as “arrogant.”
Paula Devlin, 65, told Our News Outlet that Desronvil’s explanations for his vote “made no sense” when fellow jurors challenged him. She also said he remained largely silent throughout the week of deliberations.
According to Devlin, Desronvil appeared more concerned with monitoring the tone and structure of the group’s conversations than explaining why he believed Clancy was guilty.
Clancy acknowledged killing her three children but argued that postpartum psychosis left her legally insane at the time of the deaths.
Paula Devlin, 65, told Our News Outlet that the holdout juror’s reasoning “made no sense” when questioned and that he was mostly quiet during the week-long deliberations.
“The main thing he focused on was that sometimes we would all want to talk at once, and that was very upsetting to him.
‘He would get upset and say, ”Listen to what she’s saying, listen to what he’s saying, be respectful’.”
‘We were trying to say to him, that sometimes somebody says something and they get lost in their thought or they can’t find the right word, and somebody else puts that word in there for them or finishes their thought, that’s how normal conversation works.
‘But when that would happen, he would get upset and just take all this time lecturing us about not being respectful.’
Devlin also claimed the holdout rarely fraternized with the group during the trial, instead preferring to speak to his wife or watch videos on his phone.
She said the 11 jurors who decided Clancy was not guilty of murder or manslaughter in the deaths of her kids felt ‘defeat’ and ‘anger’ when the mistrial was declared.
Meanwhile, the father of the three slain children, Patrick Clancy, revealed on Sunday that he suffered a panic attack and ended up needing medical treatment while giving grueling testimony at his ex-wife’s trial.
The grieving father sat down with 60 Minutes to share his heartbreak over the deaths of his three children Cora, five, Dawson, three and Callan, eight months old, as well as the toll that their mother’s trial took on him.
Cora, five; Dawson, three; and Callan, eight months, were found strangled to death at their home in Duxbury, Massachusetts on January 24, 2023
Patrick was one of the key witnesses in the case, testifying to Clancy’s spiraling mental health and describing the moment that he returned home to find his children dead.
Throughout his hours-long testimony, Our News Outlet saw the 38-year-old struggling to contain his emotions, physically trembling, taking deep breaths and wiping away tears as he relived the painful memories from that day in January 2023.
Speaking about the ordeal to 60 Minutes, Patrick shared that he had experienced a ‘massive, traumatic panic attack’ during a recess in proceedings inside Plymouth County Superior Court, Massachusetts.
‘We did take a break right before they played the 911 call, which I knew was going to be just horrific,’ he said.
‘And I went to a back room, and I started having this massive, traumatic panic attack. My heart was pounding.’
Patrick said he was put in an ambulance and offered medication, but turned it down, insisting he wanted to resume testifying.
‘I said “I don’t want it because I want to go back and I want to finish this so I can be done with this,”‘ he said of that moment. ‘And I went back and I finished the testimony.’
