LONE HOLDOUT JUROR EXPLAINS VOTE IN LINDSAY CLANCY MISTRIAL

A mistrial has been declared in the trial of Lindsay Clancy, who admitted to killing her three children in January 2023, after a jury deadlocked 11-1 on whether she was criminally responsible. The judge declared the mistrial on 4 September after nearly 40 hours of deliberation by a panel of nine women and three men. The sole holdout, identified as Michael Desronvil, said he had no doubts that Clancy was criminally responsible for the deaths. In a statement to CBS News, Desronvil said the evidence convinced him that Clancy had planned the killings, and that he was repeatedly cut off while explaining his reasoning during deliberations.

Clancy admitted to strangling her children, Cora, Dawson and Callan, at the family's Massachusetts home before jumping from a second-floor window, and was charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Her lawyers argued she was not criminally responsible, citing postpartum psychosis according to one report and postpartum depression according to another, while prosecutors maintained the killings were calculated. Jurors needed to be unanimously convinced she had intentionally killed her children rather than acted because of the psychiatric condition raised by the defence. The panel considered verdicts including not guilty by reason of insanity, manslaughter and first-degree murder.

Other jurors have since spoken publicly. Paula Devlin told CBS Mornings that the panel spent days trying to persuade Desronvil to change his position before the vote reached 10-2. The foreperson, a retired teacher, described the failure to reach a verdict as "awful" and an "emotional rollercoaster". Desronvil is staying at an undisclosed secure location in Northern New England, according to his attorney, amid intense media attention. Plymouth County prosecutors are considering a retrial, with Clancy due back in court on 29 September.