Lindsay Clancy Holdout Juror Michael Desronvil Previously Charged With Assaulting Ex-Wife Over Crying Baby, Allegedly Assaulted Teenage Witness Who Called Police, Hasn’t Paid Rent In 6 Months

Yesterday NBC Boston first reported about the holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy trial having a previous domestic violence arrest, an active restraining order for assaulting a minor, and a current eviction that he is avoiding. This juror has been hailed as a hero and a patriot to those who believed Clancy should’ve been found guilty of first degree murder in the deaths of her 3 children, because he refused to change his vote to not guilty by reason of insanity, and in doing so caused a mistrial. But according to at least five jurors the holdout juror believed there was reasonable doubt but would not change his vote to NGRI, he refused to deliberate, and was even playing on his phone in the jury room. It was also revealed by juror Paula Devlin during an interview with Gayle King on CBS This Morning, that the holdout juror was the only black member of the jury.

Since NBC Boston chose to report this news there has been tremendous backlash on social media, primarily from those who believe Clancy should’ve been convicted of first degree murder. They allege that NBC is only doing this in order to smear the juror in retaliation for not voting NGRI. Although there is no official party position on the Clancy verdict, it’s impossible to ignore that conservative influencers on social media and television almost unanimously believe that this juror is a hero, and have baselessly accused all Clancy supporters of being liberals.

However, this is a First Amendment issue above all else. American citizens, including those who work for media companies, have the right to report on news that they become aware of. This is the most high profile trial in the world, and this one juror single-handedly caused a mistrial. On the juror questionnaire all jurors are asked if they have ever been arrested, charged with a crime, or served with a court order. All of these boxes should’ve been checked by the juror, and according to NBC legal analyst Michael Coyne, it would almost certainly have gotten the prosecution or the defense to keep the man off the jury.

“I don’t see how they would’ve allowed him to be a member of this jury,” NBC10 Boston’s chief legal analyst Michael Coyne said.

It is not illegal for anyone to report factual information about a juror in a high profile case, especially if it raises concerns about if this juror lied before getting on the jury. However, it is illegal to lie on a juror form. And the fact of the matter is that this man single handedly made himself one of the most talked about people in the world, so the fact that he sat on this jury after previously having been charged with choking a woman and assaulting his underage nephew, is newsworthy.

Another juror named Kellie Farina also has been previously charged with assault and battery. Her charge was out of Plymouth District Court in 2002, more than 19 years before the other juror was charged, and was dismissed 8 days after she was arraigned. There is no police report available on MassCourts.org. However, Farina did not have an active restraining order for assaulting a minor while serving on the jury, and was not in active eviction for non-payment of rent. She also has not been accused of refusing to deliberate by anyone.

A GiveSendGo has been created for the unnamed juror and has already raised $25K. NBC chose not to publish the juror’s name, but according to Twitter user @TalkinStros, the juror’s name is Michael P. Desronvil.

 

On September 25, 2021, Desronvil’s 13 year old nephew called the Brockton Police and said “please come….my auntie,” before hanging up. When police arrived they found Desronvil and his wife on the front steps of the porch, with Desronvil holding his 6 month old baby. Desronvil tried to tell police that they didn’t need any help in an attempt to get them to leave, but the 13 year old nephew told police that he witnessed Desronvil hit his wife after the woman attempted to take her crying daughter from him in order to comfort her, at which point he assaulted her by grabbing his wife by the neck and throwing her into a bedroom dresser. Desronvil’s mother yelled “YOU’RE EVIL” twice at her son before he was taken away by police.

The charges were dropped several months later, but the ex-wife spoke with NBC10 Boston and said that the charges were only dropped because she was worried about losing custody of her daughter if she testified. This is not uncommon in domestic violence situations. In 2019 we published a story about a domestic violence victim named Samantha Cardin, who was assaulted by Rian Waters, the father of her autistic daughter, who struck her in the face and killed her dog while their child was present. Waters was arrested and charged, but Cardin refused to testify and dropped the charges when Waters threatened to report false allegations about her to DCF, which caused her to fear she would lose custody of her daughter.

It’s unclear if Desronvil made similar threats, but they were going through a divorce during that time, and custody of their daughter was a major issue. Desronvil is a Haitian immigrant who moved here when he was 5. According to probate court documents Desronvil did not want his ex-wife to be able to obtain a passport for their daughter, because he feared she would leave with the baby to go to Haiti.

 

Desronvil was ordered to pay $212 a week in child support, but filed a motion to reduce the payments to $141 per week, claiming that he could only work 15 hours per week. This motion was denied.

 

More disturbingly, the nephew, who is now a student at Brockton High School and made headlines in 2023 by bringing “culturally relevant food” to the BPS, obtained a restraining order on his uncle after Desronvil pushed him to the ground and repeatedly punched him in the face:

Last year, that same teenage nephew referenced in the 2021 incident took out a restraining order after he said the juror pushed him to the ground and repeatedly punched him in the face. The teen wrote in his affidavit that his uncle then said, “You ruined my (expletive) life,” for calling the police and added, “You’ve had this coming your way for a long time.”

A judge ruled that the teenager had met all the elements for a restraining order, since he was in legitimate fear of physical violence. This could also have been a charge of witness intimidation, since Desronvil allegedly assaulted the minor specifically because of testimony he gave to the police, which Desronvil blamed for ruining his life.

Additionally, Desronvil has not paid his landlord Matthew Chao rent for his Bridgewater apartment for April, May, June, July, or August, and defaulted for a September 3 court date (while he was allegedly sitting in a room refusing to deliberate), and was ordered to pay $12,644.22 in overdue rent for the apartment he is squatting in.

 

Desronvil appears to come from a good family. His father Michel was a hard working Haitian immigrant who came to this country, worked hard as a carpenter, and provided a life for his 5 children. According to the NBC Boston story, family members they spoke with say that he is estranged since he assaulted his nephew, and is described as a “narcissist.” None of them knew he was even serving on the jury, but told reporters that they believe he never should’ve been put on the jury in the first place.

I attempted to speak with Desronvil by calling the phone number listed on his paperwork but he didn’t answer. We will keep you posted on this story as more information develops.