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Lindsay Clancy trial update: Lawyer makes new move against holdout juror after mistrial
Lindsay Clancy's lawyer has asked a judge to look into the holdout juror who caused a mistrial in her murder case.
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Lindsay Clancy's murder case may have ended in a mistrial, but the legal fight is not over yet. Her lawyer, Kevin Reddington, is now asking a Massachusetts judge to investigate the holdout juror whose decision played a key role in the jury failing to reach a verdict.
The motion, dated Friday and sent to Judge William Sullivan, seeks the juror's phone records, jury documents and other information. As per TMZ, Reddington wants a thorough investigation into the juror.
What the lawyer is asking for
Reddington wants to see the confidential juror questionnaire and “Juror Doe's record from the statewide domestic violence registry.” He also wants a review of the juror's 2021 criminal charge for allegedly assaulting his wife. He has also asked for the juror's mobile phone records, as per TMZ.
This includes calls, texts and data from August 27 through September 4. These are the dates when the jury was deciding if Lindsay was guilty of murdering her three kids. Motion asks the judge to review the juror's phone metadata from this period.
The motion also asks the court to preserve all the jury notes and the judge's responses. It asks the court to preserve the original questionnaires completed by the jurors and alternate jurors.
According to the New York Times, the lawyer also wants the judge to question the juror on the record, with both the defense and prosecution present. The questions would focus on whether the juror was truthful during jury selection and whether he used a phone or received any outside information during deliberations. “The inquiry will not touch the substance of deliberations,” the motion said.
Motion does not publicly seek any specific outcome. The defense has also filed additional documents under seal. It is unclear how the jury's decision could be reversed.
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Who is the holdout juror?
He was Juror #10 at trial. As per TMZ, he has publicly named himself as 48-year-old Michael Peguy Desronvil. He says the prosecution convinced him that Lindsay was guilty. This was despite the other 11 jurors believing there was enough reasonable doubt for a not guilty by reason of insanity plea.
As per NY Times, Desronvil said on Friday that he had no doubts about Lindsay's guilt. He said in a statement that other jurors kept cutting him off during deliberations when he tried to share his theories of the case. He also defended himself against some of the other jurors, who said he refused to follow the law on reasonable doubt.
About the case
Lindsay, who is 36, did not deny strangling her children. Her lawyers argued that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis and used an insanity defense. The jurors had to decide whether she should be held criminally responsible.
Massachusetts prosecutors have not yet said whether they will retry Lindsay. However, the efforts to reach Desronvil's lawyer on Monday were not immediately successful.
