The lone holdout juror in the high-profile Lindsay Clancy murder trial said he “didn’t have any doubts” about what he believed was Clancy’s criminal responsibility, providing his account of the jury’s deliberations.Â
“I didn’t have any doubts,” juror Michael Desronvil said in a statement obtained by CBS News through his representative, Ray Marcel. “As I tried to explain different possible theories during deliberation, I kept getting cut off as if I had doubts based on the evidence present.”Â
“Based on all the physical evidence, key witnesses, and what the prosecution presents, I thought it was enough proof that she knew exactly what she was doing and planned,” his statement read.
The jury remained deadlocked on Sept. 4, the seventh day of deliberations, after not coming to a unanimous decision about whether Clancy was criminally responsible for killing her three young children at their Massachusetts home in January 2023. Clancy had pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the deaths of 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan. The judge declared a mistrial after the hung jury could not reach a verdict.
Paula Devlin, a juror in the murder trial, told “CBS Mornings” last week that jurors spent several days seeing if they could convince the holdout juror, who believed Clancy should be found guilty of murder, to come to their side, but he would not budge.
“We all worked together. And I don’t know if it was to convince him to start with,” Devlin told “CBS Mornings” co-host Gayle King. “We all worked together to convince ourselves once we got to that point where it was 10 to 2. I felt very bad for them because they felt attacked. And there is no way to not do that.”Â
Attorney Edward Andrew Paltzik announced on social media that he is now representing Desronvil, saying that Desronvil is “safe and sound at an undisclosed secure location in a rural area of Northern New England.”
The holdout juror has been subjected to widespread criticism online in the wake of the mistrial.Â
“Rest assured that the evil people who have so viciously attacked this American Hero and Champion of Justice will be held accountable to the maximum extent of the law and beyond,” Paltzik said in a post on X.
CBS News recently reported that the holdout juror was accused of domestic violence in 2021. Police in Brockton, Massachusetts, said he was accused of grabbing his wife by the throat and throwing her into a dresser during an argument. He pleaded not guilty to a count of domestic violence assault and battery, and the charge was later dismissed, according to court records.
CBS News legal analyst Caroline Polisi said the key question is whether Desronvil disclosed the allegation on his juror questionnaire. But with a mistrial already declared, it’s unclear whether the issue will have any impact on the case going forward, she said.
Clancy admitted to killing her three children, but jurors could not agree on whether she should be held criminally responsible. Several jurors and Clancy’s defense attorney said the jury was divided 11-1 in favor of finding her not criminally responsible, citing evidence of her mental illness.
Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial after the jury reported being deadlocked three times.
District Attorney Timothy Cruz has not yet announced whether the state will retry Clancy. The next court hearing is scheduled for Sept. 29 at Plymouth Superior Court.
