Criminal Justice

Lindsay Clancy's Holdout Juror Did What Jurors Are Supposed To Do

Just as a holdout may be a bulwark against wrongful conviction, a unanimous verdict is difficult to obtain by design.

Billy Binion | 9.18.2026 4:18 PM

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Lindsay Clancy (Wikimedia Commons/Mo News)

Who is on trial for the deaths of Cora, Dawson, and Callan Clancy?

Technically no one. The trial of Lindsay Clancy—the Massachusetts woman who admitted to killing her children but pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity—ended in a mistrial after a jury deadlocked 11–1, unable to reach a unanimous consensus on whether the 36-year-old mother should be held criminally responsible. Prosecutors have yet to announce if they will retry the case.

But that one holdout juror has been filling in the social gap. Michael Desronvil was the lone vote to convict Clancy after days of deliberations. As a result, he is now the one on trial, this time in the court of public opinion.

First came the news that the juror—then still anonymous—had been charged with a misdemeanor in 2021 for allegedly assaulting his then-wife; the charge was dropped after the victim said she did not want to testify. We also learned that Desronvil had an active restraining order against him tied to allegations that he attacked his nephew, and that he was facing eviction proceedings. The Boston Globe subsequently revealed his identity "through photos published online, court records, and an........

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