Lindsay Clancy holdout juror says he had no doubts
Michael Desronvil, the lone holdout in Lindsay Clancy’s trial, disputes the foreperson’s account after a mistrial.
By Frankie Delgado · News Reporter
2 min read
Michael Desronvil, the lindsay clancy holdout juror who prevented a verdict in her murder trial, has made his first public statement since the Sept. 4 mistrial. Desronvil said through his attorney that he had no doubts about the case against Clancy, according to NBC News and an Associated Press report.
Desronvil said the prosecution’s physical evidence, witnesses and presentation persuaded him that Clancy knew what she was doing and had planned it. He also said fellow jurors cut him off as he tried to discuss possible theories during deliberations, NBC News reported.
What did the Lindsay Clancy holdout juror say?
Desronvil said he did not acknowledge reasonable doubt, directly disputing an earlier account from the jury foreperson. The foreperson had said Desronvil admitted he had reasonable doubt but still wanted to convict Clancy, according to the AP report. Desronvil said that account was untrue.
The disagreement leaves sharply different public versions of what happened in the jury room. A juror’s job includes weighing the trial evidence in deliberations, the final stage of how jury duty works before a verdict or deadlock.
Eleven of the 12 jurors were prepared to find Clancy not criminally responsible, AP reported. Desronvil was the only juror seeking a murder conviction, resulting in the deadlock and the judge’s mistrial declaration.
What happens after the Lindsay Clancy mistrial?
A mistrial means the trial ended without a verdict. The Plymouth County district attorney had not said, as of the AP report, whether prosecutors would seek a new trial.
Neither side disputed that Clancy strangled her three children in the family home in 2023 before attempting to end her own life, AP reported. Her attorney argued that she was experiencing delusions and other mental-health problems while receiving treatment.
The central dispute was therefore whether Clancy was criminally responsible at the time. In Massachusetts, prosecutors must prove criminal responsibility beyond a reasonable doubt, a CBS News legal contributor said while discussing the case. Desronvil said he believed that burden had been met; the other 11 jurors reached the opposite conclusion, according to AP.
Desronvil’s lawyer said he would not be giving interviews at that time, NBC News reported. Clancy has not been convicted because the case ended in a mistrial.
This story draws on original reporting from NBC News.