The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!
The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!

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Lindsay Clancy holdout had ‘zero doubt’ and a ‘mountain of evidence’ his attorney reveals on Fox News

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BS BULLETIN:

  • The lawyer for the lone holdout in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial is pushing back on claims that his client admitted having reasonable doubt but refused to follow the law.
  • Attorney Edward Paltzik says juror Michael Desronvil had “zero doubt” and “a mountain of evidence” supporting his position.
  • Clancy’s lawyers are separately asking the judge to investigate Desronvil’s conduct during deliberations as they seek dismissal of the case.

The lone holdout juror who prevented Lindsay Clancy from being cleared of criminal responsibility isn’t backing down.

And now his lawyer is directly challenging perhaps the biggest accusation made against him by the other jurors.

Michael Desronvil was the lone juror who wanted to convict Clancy in her trial for killing her three young children. The other 11 jurors ultimately concluded that Clancy was not criminally responsible because of her mental state.

After seven days of deliberations, Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial Sept. 4.

What happened inside that jury room has since become almost as contentious as the trial itself.

The jury foreperson sent Sullivan a note during deliberations accusing Desronvil of refusing to apply the legal standard of reasonable doubt despite acknowledging that doubt existed.

Desronvil’s attorney Edward Paltzik now says that characterization is simply wrong.

“Michael had zero doubt,” Paltzik told Fox News’ Kayleigh McEnany in a preview of an interview scheduled to air Monday.

McEnany pressed him.

“Zero doubt. No doubt. And he had evidence to back up his position?”

“A lot of evidence,” Paltzik replied. “A mountain of evidence.”

That’s consistent with what Desronvil himself has already said publicly.

“I didn’t have any doubts,” he said in a statement obtained by CBS News.

Desronvil said other jurors interpreted his attempts to discuss different theories as uncertainty, when he was actually trying to explain his reasoning.

He said the physical evidence, witness testimony and prosecution’s presentation convinced him that Clancy understood what she was doing and planned the killings.

Clancy admitted killing 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan at the family’s Duxbury, Massachusetts, home in January 2023.

The central question at trial was whether she was criminally responsible.

Her attorneys argued that postpartum psychosis rendered her incapable of criminal responsibility. Prosecutors argued that Clancy knew what she was doing and deliberately killed the children.

Eleven jurors ultimately accepted the defense position.

Desronvil didn’t.

And the battle over him hasn’t ended with the mistrial.

Clancy attorney Kevin Reddington has asked the court to conduct what he calls a “limited inquiry” into Desronvil, including whether he used his cellphone during deliberations and whether he was truthful during jury selection.

Phone use during jury deliberations is prohibited in Massachusetts. Reddington has asked for records of calls and texts during deliberation hours, along with courthouse surveillance footage and other records. Those allegations have not been established by the court.

Paltzik has fiercely objected, calling the requested investigation an attack on the jury system and arguing that jurors must be able to disagree without fearing retaliation afterward.

Clancy’s lawyers have also asked Sullivan to dismiss the murder case rather than permit another trial, arguing that the mistrial should never have been declared.

Prosecutors have not yet announced whether they will retry Clancy.

She is scheduled to return to court Sept. 29.

DBS WIRE SOURCES:

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