NBC Boston slammed for smearing holdout juror in Lindsay Clancy case after he refused not guilty verdict

NBC Boston has targeted the black, male holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy case, digging up dirt on him and his family affairs after he was the only one to say that he could acquit the admitted child killer in Massachusetts. The result was a hung jury that ended with a mistrial in the Clancy case. The outlet has been slammed online in the wake of its reporting about the holdout, with some saying that the reporting may be criminal under Massachusetts’ laws surrounding jury intimidation.  

NBC Boston said that it has uncovered "court documents and interviews with family members reveal a history of domestic violence allegations." Although there were allegations and a criminal charge against him for assaulting his wife, that charge was later dismissed after they divorced.  

The allegations against him stem from a domestic assault case prior to September 2021. According to police records, the juror's nephew called 911 after his uncle grabbed his wife by the neck and threw her into a dresser. She allegedly screamed "You're evil" in response. The nephew has also taken out a restraining order against the juror after he alleged that his uncle threw him to the ground and punched him in the face. The restraining order was active when the juror was selected for the case. 

The juror who was selected also has a pending eviction against him, according to the report from NBC 10. In addition to the scrutiny that he has been put under in the media, other jurors in the jury pool have publicly bashed the holdout. 

Nick Dargie, who was one of the other men on the jury out of the three male jurors in the 12, voiced his frustrations about the holdout juror in an interview with Good Morning America. 

“I think we felt defeated,” Dargie said. “We spent seven weeks on this trial, almost two months of, you know, all of our lives dedicated to it.”

There have been five jurors out of the 12 who have spoken out publicly about the case. Dargie said that the holdout juror would not engage with the others at the end of deliberations and instead chose to scroll on his phone. 

Dargie said the holdout juror used one of the exercise bands that was submitted as evidence to pull it tight around a water bottle, possibly mimicking the killings of Clancy's three young children. “I was shocked. It didn’t make any sense to me,” Dargie said. “We’re not in here to play detective or it’s not a game of Clue. This is serious.”

Another Juror, Paula Devlin, said that it was "heartbreaking" that the jury could not reach a unanimous decision to acquit Clancy of her criminal responsibility. Devlin told CBS Mornings that the holdout juror "couldn't wrap his head around" how Clancy carried out all of the killings so methodically if she was in a psychotic episode. 

Speaking to NBC Boston, juror Roni Carlson claimed the holdout juror "admitted he had reasonable doubt and I started filling out the forms, I was so excited," but the lone juror said that he would still rule that she was guilty. 

Others online slammed NBC Boston for the report on the holdout juror, with some saying that they could be engaging in criminal behavior. 

"So a person was ordered by the government to participate in jury duty, was forced to vote guilty or not guilty on the case, and then when he voted the way other people didn’t like the local news doxxed his identity and did news stories attacking him?" Blake Neff posted to X. 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said in response to the report from NBC Boston, "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. If the juror is being harassed, Florida will provide asylum — I’m sure he’d be welcomed and appreciated."

Matt Walsh said in response to the story from NBC Boston, "We’ve never seen anything like this before. A man was conscripted into jury duty by the government. He performed his civic duty and followed his conscience, refusing to acquit a woman who confessed to systematically executing her three children. The defense attorney immediately launched a public smear campaign against the juror. Soon several other jurors joined the campaign. Then the media. Even the defense attorney’s wife has joined. Now they’re doxxing the man, digging into his past, contacting his family, showing up at his house. All of this both to punish him for refusing to go with their program, and to pollute any future jury pool by making it clear that anyone who votes to convict Clancy will have their life destroyed. It’s truly one of the most outrageously evil things we’ve ever seen from the Left, and that’s saying something. A direct assault on the integrity of our justice system. They are burning down every boundary and standard in their path. And doing it all for the sake of a child murdering psychopath. Unfathomable." 

After the story was published, a community note popped up on the report on X that stated, "Massachusetts law prohibits anyone 'to engage in an act directed at a [juror] that seriously alarms or annoys such person' with a penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment."

Canadian lawyer and commentator David Freiheit, known online as Viva Frei, said about the report from NBC Boston: "Interesting community note… My initial reflex with whether or not a *former* juror would qualify under the law. I read the law, and it seems the prohibition of harassment applies to retaliation for having participated. You better watch yourselves, @NBC10Boston - you’re flirting with criminality."