DeSantis Offers Asylum to Juror in Clancy Case
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently declared that the state would offer “asylum” to the juror who did not agree with the majority in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial, claiming that media outlets are unfairly targeting him.
On Friday, DeSantis (R-Fla.) reacted to a report from NBC10 journalist Ryan Kath, which detailed allegations that the juror had not paid rent for an extended period and had past accusations of domestic violence.
“A man objected to allowing a woman to kill her three young kids and get away with it, so NBC is trying to smear that juror, whose identity should be protected. Another low for legacy media,” the governor stated. “If the juror is being harassed, Florida will provide asylum — I’m sure he’d be welcomed and appreciated.”
The news report mentioned that investigators had uncovered a restraining order against the juror and noted a prior incident from September 2021 where he faced charges for allegedly assaulting his spouse. A police report claimed that the juror’s teenage nephew called 911, stating that his uncle had thrown his wife into a dresser.
Court documents indicated that the couple had since divorced, and the assault charge was dismissed. However, the same nephew later secured a restraining order due to an alleged assault by the juror.
This situation raised questions about the jury selection process in this highly publicized triple murder case.
The jury consisted of 12 individuals who were tasked with deciding whether Clancy, who confessed to killing her three young children aged 5, 3, and 8 months, was criminally responsible for her actions or if her mental health issues impaired her understanding that what she did was against the law.
After several days of deliberations, Plymouth Superior Court Judge William Sullivan called a mistrial due to the jury’s failure to reach an agreement. The jurors communicated to the judge that only one member dissented from the group’s opinion, leading Clancy’s lawyer, Kevin Reddington, to call for that juror’s removal.
In the closing days of the trial and after it concluded, it became known that the lone juror holding out for a guilty verdict was one of the men in the group. This week, jury member Paula Devlin revealed that all jurors were White, with the exception of the holdout, who is a Black man.
