*The lone Black holdout in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial exercised one of the most basic powers entrusted to an American juror: he refused to join the other 11.
Days later, NBC10 Boston was digging through his personal history, contacting relatives and reporting allegations involving domestic violence, an eviction and unpaid rent.
That raises a question separate from whether NBC10’s findings are newsworthy: Why did an anonymous juror’s dissent trigger such an extensive investigation of his private life?
NBC10 offers an answer. The NBCUniversal-owned station says information it uncovered raises questions about how the man was selected for the jury and whether his background should have surfaced during jury screening.
But the station also acknowledges it does not know how he actually answered the relevant juror questionnaire.
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NBC10 Says It Found Potential ‘Red Flags’
NBC10 Boston reported that investigator Ryan Kath had been “digging into the juror’s history all week.”
The investigation uncovered a 2021 criminal case stemming from allegations that the man grabbed his then-wife by the throat and threw her into a dresser. That charge was eventually dismissed.
NBC10 also reported that the juror’s nephew later obtained a restraining order against him following another alleged altercation. The order remained active while the Clancy trial was underway.
The station’s legal analyst questioned whether those matters should have been disclosed on the standard juror questionnaire, which asks about arrests, criminal charges and court orders.
But NBC10 reported that juror questionnaires are not public records. Consequently, the station could not establish how the holdout answered those questions or that he concealed information.
The Investigation Went Beyond Jury Screening
NBC10’s reporting didn’t stop with matters potentially relevant to the questionnaire.
Investigators reported that the juror was facing eviction and owed more than $12,000 in unpaid rent. They contacted his ex-wife and estranged family members, including one who described him as a “narcissist.” They also repeatedly attempted to contact him at his home.
NBC10 withheld his name because he has not spoken publicly and the jury list remains impounded.
The investigation followed the station’s exclusive interview with three female jurors who sharply criticized the holdout after the 11-1 mistrial.
As EURweb previously reported, juror Paula Devlin later revealed that the holdout was a Black man in his 30s and the jury’s only person of color. The panel consisted of nine women and three men. There is no evidence that NBC10 investigated him because he is Black. But the sequence has fueled a much larger argument online about race, gender, jury independence and how much scrutiny an anonymous citizen should face after casting an unpopular vote.
DeSantis Calls NBC’s Report a ‘Smear’
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has now entered that debate.
“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,” DeSantis wrote on X.
“If the juror is being harassed, Florida will provide asylum,” he added.
DeSantis’ characterization is his own. NBC10 presents its investigation as raising legitimate questions about the jury-selection process.
That leaves an important distinction.
Whether the juror’s arrest history and restraining order should have affected his selection is one question. Why his divorce, estranged relatives, landlord and unpaid rent became part of a televised examination after he became the lone holdout is another.
For now, no court or prosecutor has established that the juror lied on his questionnaire or improperly obtained his seat.
The mistrial was supposed to leave one anonymous juror standing apart from 11 others. Instead, his refusal to move with the majority has made the juror himself the subject of an investigation — and that may prove to be the most consequential story to emerge from the jury room.
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RELATED NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Lindsay Clancy Juror Reveals How Black Holdout Shifted on Murder | WATCH
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