A judge has denied a request by Lindsay Clancy’s defense team to hold an evidentiary hearing aimed at questioning the sole holdout juror who caused a mistrial in her murder case last month. The ruling came Wednesday from Judge William F. Sullivan, who is presiding over the trial of the Duxbury mother accused of killing her three children.

Clancy’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, sought to question juror Michael P. Desronvil regarding his conduct during jury selection and deliberations. Reddington raised concerns that Desronvil may have misrepresented his prior involvement with the criminal justice system, used his cellphone during deliberations, and failed to follow instructions about reasonable doubt. Desronvil was the only juror who pushed for Clancy’s conviction and rejected the defense’s insanity plea, despite reportedly having doubts about her guilt.

The trial lasted about a month, with jurors deliberating for seven days before informing the court they could not reach a unanimous verdict due to the dissenting holdout. After urging jurors to continue deliberations, Sullivan declared a mistrial on September 4.

In his ruling, Sullivan emphasized that post-trial information regarding a juror’s impartiality cannot be used to challenge the decision to declare a mistrial. He cited judicial mandates that prohibit inquiry into a juror’s internal reasoning, the deliberation process, or disagreements among jurors. Sullivan declined to allow the "limited inquiry" into Desronvil’s pretrial questionnaire, cell phone usage records during deliberations, and his criminal and civil court history as proposed by the defense.

The judge has yet to rule on Clancy’s motion to dismiss the murder charges on grounds of double jeopardy, with arguments scheduled for a hearing on November 2.

Clancy, 36, faces three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of her children—Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months—who were found strangled in the basement of their Duxbury home on January 24, 2023. Clancy has confessed to the killings but has pleaded not guilty, asserting an insanity defense based on postpartum psychosis. She also suffered severe self-harm after the incident, resulting in paralysis from the waist down.

Prosecutors have characterized the killings as premeditated acts carried out by Clancy, who they say was deeply depressed and intended to die by suicide, taking her children with her.

Two weeks after the mistrial was declared, Desronvil issued a statement through his lawyer asserting he did not harbor doubts about Clancy’s criminal responsibility, contradicting earlier reports suggesting uncertainty.

Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz has not yet announced whether he will pursue a retrial.