Posts
Holdout Juror’s Lawyer Files Bar Complaint After Defense Attorney Treats “Following The Evidence” Like A Capital Offense
The attorney for the lone holdout juror in Lindsay Clancy’s mistrial has accused defense lawyer Kevin Reddington of unconstitutional overreach and announced plans to file a bar complaint, because apparently the Sixth Amendment is now optional if the verdict isn’t cute enough.
Reddington has spent the days since the September 4 mistrial attacking Michael Péguy Desronvil, the juror who declined to declare Clancy not guilty by reason of insanity. Reddington branded him an “obstructionist juror” who refused to follow the law. Desronvil has declined to recant.
Edward Paltzik, Desronvil’s attorney, said Reddington created a “nightmarish precedent” by accusing his client of breaking the law based mostly on what other jurors who wanted a different outcome claimed happened in the jury room. Desronvil rejects that account. He has said he has no doubts about Clancy’s guilt based on the evidence and simply refused to fold under pressure from fellow jurors.
“If the new normal is that jurors are going to face brutal reprisals for disagreeing with a defense attorney, you can kiss the Sixth Amendment goodbye,” Paltzik wrote in a post on X.
“That is the most outrageous thing I have ever heard in almost 20 years of practicing law. It is categorically false,” he said about the claim that Desronvil broke the law.
“You can’t investigate a juror because the juror followed the law and the evidence and came to a different conclusion than the one that you wanted, Kevin Reddington,” Paltzik added.
Reddington has asked Judge William Sullivan for permission to inspect Desronvil’s phone records, courthouse surveillance footage, juror questionnaire, probation records, and any entries in the state’s domestic violence registry. Because nothing says “I respect the jury system” like a post-trial fishing expedition into a citizen who voted the wrong way.
Paltzik, who has nearly 20 years of experience as a defense lawyer, said he would never publicly criticize a juror or file a post-trial motion seeking to investigate one. “Kevin Reddington was doing his job but the problem is it’s off the rails now,” Paltzik said.
“Kevin Reddington wanted this for his legacy,” he added. “He wanted so desperately to win this trial.”
Legal analyst and law professor Jonathan Turley has also called the request for phone records, surveillance footage, and criminal history “highly unusual,” warning that publicly attacking a juror and then trying to investigate him could send a “chilling” message to anyone asked to serve in a high-profile case.
Sources first told TMZ on September 24 that Desronvil and his legal team planned to seek discipline against Reddington, arguing he should be “suspended, disciplined, or even disbarred” for targeting the juror after the mistrial. Paltzik confirmed the planned complaint on Monday.
Clancy has admitted killing her three children, Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months, in January 2023 by strangling them with exercise bands after sending her husband, Patrick, out on two errands. She pleaded not guilty and claimed postpartum psychosis made her not criminally responsible. One juror looked at the evidence, declined to play along, and is now the one being treated like the defendant.
Hey folks, please take time to give a click to the sponsors on this page--it's one way to support my work and you don't need to purchase anything just to look. Of course, you can Buy Me A Coffee at any amount if you want to support me directly, but no pressure. And finally, consider subscribing if you enjoy the blog--it's free, and totally worth the cost.
No comments:
Post a Comment