Lindsay Clancy trial holdout juror defends vote
The Lindsay Clancy trial ended in a mistrial after juror Michael P. Desronvil remained the sole holdout, prompting him to issue a statement defending his position. Criminal defense attorney Mercedes Colwin examines his reasoning and discusses what prosecutors in Massachusetts may do next, including pursuing a new trial or negotiating a plea agreement in the closely watched case.
Lindsay Clancy’s attorneys are seeking an investigation into the juror who wanted to convict her of murdering her children by strangulation. They say his refusal to yield to pressure from fellow jurors should lead a judge to dismiss the charges. The request drew a furious response from the lawyer now representing Desronvil.
In a post on X Tuesday morning, attorney Edward Paltzik called the defense filing a “‘Looney Tunes’ motion” submitted by Kevin “Shooter McGavin” Reddington. He said the request to investigate Desronvil amounted to retaliation against a juror who had the courage to stand alone.
“Reddington’s motion is actually a full-frontal attack on the U.S. Constitution,” Paltzik wrote. He warned that allowing jurors to face aggressive reprisals simply because they disagree with a defense lawyer could threaten the constitutional right to a fair jury trial under the Sixth Amendment.
Michael P. Desronvil, the lone holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial, which ended in a mistrial. (Fugitive TV)
Paltzik argued that granting the defense’s request would create lasting damage to the criminal justice system.
He said the proposal could produce a repeating cycle in which prosecutors investigate jurors who oppose guilty verdicts while defense attorneys target those who reject acquittals. Paltzik compared the possible outcome to the Hatfield-McCoy feud, warning of a self-perpetuating conflict in which the original dispute eventually matters less than the destructive cycle it creates.
In a motion filed Friday, Reddington requested a “limited inquiry” into Desronvil. The proposed review would examine the juror’s background, any possible criminal history, phone records, courthouse surveillance footage and other information.
Lindsay Clancy looks toward jurors as Judge Sullivan asks them to begin a sixth day of deliberations. The jury resumed deliberations Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. ( )
Neither Paltzik nor Reddington immediately answered requests for comment from News Outlet on Tuesday morning.
In another filing, Clancy attorney Martin Weinberg argued that Judge William Sullivan’s decision to overrule a defense objection during the trial should justify dismissing the charges against the 36-year-old defendant on double-jeopardy grounds. His argument also focused on Desronvil and accusations that the juror failed to follow the judge’s instructions and apply the law.
Callan, Dawson and Cora Clancy. The three children were killed at their home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in January 2023. (Lindsay Marie Clancy/Facebook)
Weinberg wrote that the jury had twice alerted the court that one member was not applying the legal standard of reasonable doubt. After the first report, Sullivan questioned jurors individually about whether they could follow the law. After the second, he reminded the full panel of its general obligation to obey his instructions. According to Weinberg, the judge declined Clancy’s request to take additional action.
Kevin J. Reddington speaks to reporters outside Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. His client, Lindsay Clancy, is charged with killing her three children in 2023. (David McGlynn for News Outlet)
The motion further contended that Sullivan should not have declared a mistrial without first investigating the holdout. It cited the jury foreperson’s allegation that Desronvil acknowledged having doubts about the evidence but refused to apply those doubts when considering the verdict.
Paltzik said he began representing Desronvil the previous week as pressure intensified from other jurors, Clancy’s defense team and members of the public who support the defendant.
Patrick Clancy leaves Plymouth Superior Court in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on Monday, July 27, 2026. His ex-wife, Lindsay Clancy, is facing trial in the deaths of their three children. (David McGlynn for News Outlet)
The mistrial was declared Sept. 4, and several jurors have since spoken publicly. Some, including the foreperson, accused Desronvil of setting aside his own reasonable doubts about the prosecution’s case. Desronvil rejected that characterization in his only public statement.
“I didn’t have any doubts,” he said in a statement issued last week and first reported by NewsNation. He said that when he tried to discuss alternative theories during deliberations, other jurors repeatedly interrupted him and treated his efforts as evidence that he was uncertain about the case.
Paula Devlin speaks with News Outlet about the Lindsay Clancy trial in Whitman, Massachusetts, on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. Devlin served as a juror in Clancy’s murder trial. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for News Outlet))
He said that based on the physical evidence, witness testimony and the prosecution’s presentations, he “thought it was enough proof that she knew exactly what she was doing and planned.”
Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse, admitted killing her children — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months — but argued she was not criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time of the killings. Prosecutors argued she planned the murders and understood that what she was doing was wrong.
Clancy is due back in court Sept. 29.
