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Judge Declares Mistrial After One Juror Blocks Conviction

By Drooid · Sep 28, 2026, 3:12 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Judge Sullivan Declares Mistrial

Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial in Lindsay Clancy's murder trial.
Juror Michael P. Desronvil was the sole holdout voting for conviction.
Eleven jurors found Clancy not criminally responsible for the killings.
Clancy admitted killing her three children—Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; Callan, 8 months—in January 2023.
Prosecutors asserted Clancy understood her actions despite the postpartum psychosis defense.

Summary

Reddington Files Motion

Defense attorney Kevin Reddington filed a double-jeopardy motion to dismiss all charges.
Attorney Martin Weinberg joined to argue the mistrial lacked manifest necessity.
Reddington’s motion asks Judge Mark Gildea to obtain the holdout juror’s cellphone logs and surveillance footage.
Judge Mark Gildea will hear a status conference at 9 a.m. on Tuesday.

History

Historical Context

Andrea Yates’s 2002 conviction for drowning her five children sparked debate over postpartum psychosis defenses, leading courts to tighten evidentiary standards. The 2026 trial of Massachusetts mother Lindsay Clancy, who killed three children in 2023, mirrors that precedent as Judge William F. Sullivan requires proof of mental illness before a retrial. Both cases illustrate the evolving scrutiny of insanity pleas in U.S. homicide law.

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Judge Sullivan Declares Mistrial

Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial in Lindsay Clancy's murder trial.
Juror Michael P. Desronvil was the sole holdout voting for conviction.
Eleven jurors found Clancy not criminally responsible for the killings.
Clancy admitted killing her three children—Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; Callan, 8 months—in January 2023.
Prosecutors asserted Clancy understood her actions despite the postpartum psychosis defense.

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