Defense also moves to dismiss case instead of ordering retrial
Lindsay Clancy’s defense attorneys have asked a Massachusetts judge to investigate the conduct of the lone juror whose holdout vote forced a mistrial in her murder trial, according to a motion filed Friday and made public Monday at Plymouth County Superior Court.
The motion asks the court to question juror Michael Desronvil about his alleged use of a cellphone during deliberations, his truthfulness on a pretrial juror questionnaire, and his truthfulness when jurors were questioned by Judge William Sullivan the day before the trial ended.
The filing is the latest in a series of post-mistrial motions in a case that ended in deadlock on September 4. Sullivan declared a mistrial when the jury said it could not reach a unanimous verdict; 11 of 12 jurors were prepared to clear Clancy of criminal responsibility, with the majority concluding she was in the grip of a rare condition called postpartum psychosis when she strangled her three children. Desronvil sided with prosecutors, who had argued that Clancy knew what she was doing.
Among other requests, defense attorney Kevin Reddington 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 deliberations. Phone use during jury deliberations is prohibited in the state.
Desronvil has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with his jury service. Other jurors complained that he was inflexible in his opinion that Clancy was guilty, and in a statement released last week through his lawyer, Edward Paltzik, Desronvil said he “didn’t have any doubts” that Clancy knew what she was doing when she killed her three children.
In a separate motion also filed Monday, the defense asked Sullivan to take the unusual step of dismissing the criminal case rather than ordering a new trial. The defense argued the judge should have replaced the holdout juror with an alternate after the jury foreperson complained to the judge that one juror was refusing to listen to the law on reasonable doubt.
Prosecutors have not said whether they will retry Clancy. She remains charged with murder and is in a psychiatric hospital until her case is resolved. A spokesperson for Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz would not comment on the motions.