Holdout Juror in Lindsay Clancy 11-1 Mistrial Says He Backed Guilty Verdict

Q: Will a rare legal motion completely clear Lindsay Clancy before prosecutors even get a chance for a retrial?

Possibly, but it is a long shot and not automatic. Clancy’s lawyers have filed a renewed Rule 25 motion in Massachusetts, asking the judge to enter a required finding of not guilty even after the mistrial. If Judge William Sullivan grants it, that would amount to an acquittal, and prosecutors could not retry her under double-jeopardy rules. The motion argues that the Commonwealth failed, as a matter of law, to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Clancy was criminally responsible when she killed her three children. In Massachusetts, once the defense of lack of criminal responsibility is fairly raised, prosecutors must disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt. Clancy’s lawyers say the prosecution’s expert evidence and trial proof fell short of that standard. But judges rarely grant this kind of motion after a full trial, especially in a case where one juror wanted to convict and prosecutors presented evidence of planning, awareness, and deliberate action. On a Rule 25 motion, the judge must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution. That is a demanding standard for the defense to overcome. So the motion could, in theory, completely clear Clancy before any retrial decision is carried out. In practice, however, the more likely outcomes remain that the judge denies the motion and prosecutors then decide whether to retry the case, negotiate a resolution, or drop it. The issue is expected to come up when Clancy returns to court on September 29.

3 articles · Updated · CNN · Sep 17

Michael Péguy Desronvil, the lone juror in the 11-1 split, said he never doubted Lindsay Clancy’s guilt and was miscast by fellow jurors as someone refusing to apply reasonable doubt.
More than 38 hours of deliberations ended in a Sept. 4 mistrial after jurors repeatedly reported deadlock; the foreperson had accused Desronvil of acknowledging doubt but not applying it to the verdict.
Desronvil’s lawyer said the 48-year-old juror is in a secure undisclosed location in Northern New England after online attacks, while promising more details later and warning people to stop trying to find him.
Patrick Clancy, whose 3 children were killed in January 2023, also spoke publicly in a forthcoming '60 Minutes' interview as he and his new wife push back against conspiracy theories and prepare legal action.