Lindsay Clancy’s attorney is asking a Massachusetts judge to investigate whether the only juror favoring conviction provided inaccurate information during jury selection or improperly used a cellphone while deliberations were underway.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.

Attorneys for Lindsay Clancy are seeking a judicial investigation into the lone juror who favored convicting her of murdering her three children after an 11-1 deadlock ended the Massachusetts mother’s six-week trial without a verdict.

Defense attorney Kevin Reddington filed a motion Monday asking Plymouth Superior Court Judge William Sullivan to examine whether juror Michael Desronvil provided inaccurate or incomplete information during the jury-selection process and whether his conduct during deliberations violated court rules.

Reddington is also asking the court to investigate reports concerning Desronvil’s background, including allegations of domestic violence, according to the New Haven Register.

The defense additionally raised questions about whether Desronvil improperly used a cellphone while the jury was deliberating.

Sullivan has ordered that juror-identifying information and questionnaires completed before trial be impounded, but he has not yet granted the defense request for a formal investigation.

The motion follows a mistrial in one of Massachusetts’ most closely watched criminal cases.

Desronvil, a 48-year-old father, was the only member of the 12-person jury who favored finding Clancy guilty. The remaining 11 jurors supported a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, accepting the defense position that Clancy was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time she killed her three children.

Jurors ultimately informed Sullivan that they could not reach a unanimous verdict, bringing the trial to an end after approximately six weeks of testimony.

The defense is now attempting to prevent the case from being tried again.

Clancy is scheduled to return to Plymouth Superior Court on Sept. 29. Reddington is expected to ask Sullivan to dismiss the charges rather than require Clancy to undergo a second murder trial.

Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz is also expected to announce that day whether prosecutors intend to retry the case.

The defense is arguing that the jury’s disagreement concerned Clancy’s criminal responsibility rather than whether prosecutors had otherwise proved the elements of the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

According to Reddington, all 12 jurors — including Desronvil — agreed there was reasonable doubt concerning the prosecution’s case. That argument is now expected to become part of the defense effort to persuade Sullivan that another trial should not proceed.

Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder stemming from the Jan. 24, 2023, deaths of her children at the family’s home in Duxbury, Massachusetts.

Her children were Callan, 8 months; Dawson, 3; and Cora, 5.

Clancy strangled the three children while her then-husband, Patrick Clancy, was away from the house picking up food and completing errands.

Afterward, Clancy attempted suicide, cutting her wrists and neck before jumping from a second-story window.

She survived the fall but was left paralyzed and used a wheelchair throughout her trial.

The principal dispute at trial centered on Clancy’s mental condition when the children were killed.

Her attorneys maintained that she had developed postpartum psychosis, a rare but severe psychiatric condition that can involve hallucinations, delusions, confusion and dramatic changes in behavior following childbirth.

The defense argued that the illness rendered Clancy legally insane and therefore not criminally responsible for the deaths.

Prosecutors challenged that conclusion and sought first-degree murder convictions, making Clancy’s state of mind and her ability to understand the nature and wrongfulness of her actions central issues for jurors.

Eleven jurors ultimately sided with the insanity defense.

Desronvil did not.

That split has now placed him at the center of the post-trial proceedings as Reddington seeks information about what Desronvil disclosed before being seated on the jury and how he conducted himself once deliberations began.

Questions concerning potential juror misconduct can be especially sensitive after a mistrial because courts generally protect the secrecy and independence of jury deliberations. At the same time, allegations that a juror withheld material information during selection or violated restrictions during deliberations can prompt further judicial review.

The defense’s motion asks Sullivan to determine whether Desronvil’s answers on his juror questionnaire and during voir dire accurately reflected his history and circumstances.

It also asks the court to investigate the reported domestic violence allegations involving Desronvil and determine whether any such information should have been disclosed before he was selected.

The cellphone allegation creates a separate question about whether information from outside the courtroom could have entered the deliberative process.

No judicial determination has yet been made that Desronvil committed misconduct or provided false information.

Sullivan’s decision to impound the questionnaires and other juror information preserves those materials while he considers what further examination, if any, is warranted.

The new legal fight comes as Patrick Clancy has publicly discussed his own view of his former wife’s condition.

In an interview with “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday, Patrick said he believes Lindsay was experiencing postpartum psychosis when she killed their children.

His comments followed years in which Clancy’s mental health before and during the killings became the central issue surrounding the criminal case.

The immediate questions before the court now concern both the jury and the future of the prosecution.

Sullivan must decide whether the defense has presented sufficient grounds to investigate the lone holdout juror and will also face Reddington’s anticipated request to dismiss the charges.

Cruz, meanwhile, must determine whether prosecutors will seek another jury and retry three first-degree murder counts after the first panel divided 11-1 in favor of an insanity acquittal.

Those issues are expected to converge Sept. 29, when Clancy returns to court and the next phase of the case could be determined.

Original article