Lindsay Clancy’s lawyers seek juror’s phone records, file motion to dismiss
Kevin Reddington, center, who represents Lindsay Clancy, leaves court Sept. 4 after the judge declared a mistrial in the case. (Photo by Charles Krupa/The Associated Press)
The defense team from Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial filed a motion Friday seeking information about the holdout juror, who some blame for the mistrial of the former nurse accused of killing her three young children.
A few days later, the defense filed a motion to dismiss on the basis that if the court and the state had conducted a meaningful voir dire to determine whether there was a basis to dismiss juror Michael P. Desronvil, the need for a mistrial would have been eliminated.
Trying Clancy again, the defense argued, would violate her double jeopardy rights. The motion was signed by Martin Weinberg and Kevin Reddington, who represent Clancy.
According to the defense’s review of the jury foreperson’s notes, Desronvil would not apply the court’s instructions about doubt, and he had a bias against people suffering from serious mental illness, wrote Marian Braccia, a professor at the Temple University Beasley School of Law, for Law & Crime.
The Sept. 18 motion requests that the court ask Desronvil whether he was truthful on the jury questionnaire and during voir dire, and it seeks any records of calls or texts during deliberations made between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., the Associated Press and the New York Times report.
Massachusetts, where Clancy was tried, prohibits phone use during jury deliberations, according to the Associated Press.
Also on Saturday, Edward Paltzik, Desronvil’s lawyer, said on X—formerly Twitter—a fundraising website for his client was legit.
As of Tuesday, it has raised more than $382,000 of its $500,000 fundraising goal. The money will cover security, lawyers and lost work, according to the website.
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