Clancy Lawyers Seek Case Dismissal, Ask Judge to Probe Holdout Juror

Lindsay Clancy's lawyers filed a motion to dismiss her case and asked the judge to investigate the lone holdout juror after her murder trial ended in a mistrial.

Her attorney, Kevin Reddington, wants the court to probe mobile phone use by "Juror Doe" during deliberations and examine a questionnaire he filled out. The proceedings against Clancy ended in a mistrial this month after the jury failed to reach an unanimous verdict. Michael Desronvil, the lone juror who wanted to find Clancy guilty, stated there was enough proof that she knew exactly what she was doing.

A lawyer for Desronvil, Edward Paltzik, called the defense motion a "Looney Tunes" attack on his client for doing his civic duty. Paltzik warned that Reddington's motion is a full-frontal attack on the U.S. Constitution and could undermine the American criminal justice system. In his motion filed Friday, Reddington asked the court to look at calls and texts "Juror Doe" made between 8:00 and 16:30 local time during all deliberation days.

Phone use during deliberations is prohibited in Massachusetts. Reddington also asked the court to examine the truthfulness of the answers the juror gave during jury selection and his responses to prospective juror questionnaires. Clancy has not denied killing her three children, Cora, five, Dawson, three, and Callan, eight months, at the family's Massachusetts home. Her attorneys argued she was not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming she struggled with postpartum psychosis.

Prosecutors argued Clancy made a calculated decision to send her husband out of the house to strangle her children. Eleven of 12 jurors were ready to clear Clancy of criminal responsibility, believing she was in the grip of postpartum psychosis. Clancy's lawyers argued the judge should have replaced the holdout juror with an alternate after a jury foreperson complained the juror was refusing to listen to the law on reasonable doubt.

An online fundraiser for Desronvil to cover possible legal fees has topped $370,000. Prosecutors have not yet stated whether they plan to retry Clancy, who remains charged with murder and is in a psychiatric hospital.