Clancy seeks dismissal of murder charges
Defense attorney argues a jury holdout's conduct warrants a double jeopardy ruling, a claim prosecutors strongly oppose.
By Anthony Foster ·
Lindsay Clancy asked a Massachusetts judge on Monday to drop the charges that she killed her three young children. The request marks the second time the 36-year-old mother has appeared in court since her trial ended in September with a deadlocked jury.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington filed a motion to dismiss the case on double jeopardy grounds. He urged Judge William Sullivan to investigate the lone juror who blocked a guilty verdict. Reddington questioned whether that juror used a cell phone during deliberations to research case terms and whether he disclosed his criminal history during jury selection.
The hearing grew tense as Reddington publicly named the juror, Michael Desronvil. Sullivan repeatedly intervened when prosecutors objected to the disclosure of potentially confidential information. Sullivan told the attorneys to dial back their voices after they began speaking over one another.
Reddington argued that Desronvil’s actions represented a fatal infection of the juror’s integrity. He stated that the name was already available online and pushed for a deeper look into the holdout's behavior. Judge Sullivan did not rule on the motion immediately.
Prosecutor Jennifer Sprague countered that the judge handled the jury correctly after the foreperson sent two notes about a rule violation. She argued that questioning the foreperson further would have intruded into the private deliberations. Sprague told Sullivan that he was in the best position to judge the jurors' credibility and that he credited their answers.
Desronvil’s attorney, Heather O’Connor, disputed the cell phone allegations. She noted that all jurors were allowed to keep their phones and that Desronvil was scrolling, not researching specific case information. She said the defense is targeting Desronvil only because he did not vote for the outcome the defense wanted.
The judge scheduled another hearing for Nov. 16 and suggested a retrial could begin in March. Prosecutors have not decided if they will pursue the same charges again. Clancy has not disputed killing her children in 2023, but her team argues she suffered from postpartum psychosis.
