PLYMOUTH, Mass. / TALLAHASSEE — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday offered the unidentified holdout juror in Lindsay Clancy’s mistrial “asylum” in Florida after NBC10 Boston reported the juror had a history of domestic-violence allegations and an active restraining order while sitting on the case.

NBC’s investigators, citing court documents and family interviews, said the Plymouth County resident faced a September 2021 Brockton District Court assault charge after his then-13-year-old nephew called 911 and alleged the juror grabbed his wife by the throat and threw her into a dresser. The charge was later dismissed; the couple divorced. Last year that same nephew obtained a restraining order alleging the juror pushed him down and punched him — an order NBC said was still active when the man was seated and heard weeks of evidence. Housing-court records also show a judgment of more than $12,000 in unpaid rent and a pending eviction, NBC reported.

NBC is not naming the juror while the jury list remains impounded and he has not spoken publicly. Massachusetts juror questionnaires ask about arrests, charges, and court orders; NBC’s chief legal analyst Michael Coyne said he does not see how the juror would have been seated if those boxes were answered correctly, and said failing to answer truthfully can itself be a crime. Both Plymouth DA Timothy Cruz’s office and Clancy’s defense declined to comment Friday afternoon, NBC said. Questionnaires are not public, so NBC could not confirm what the juror wrote.

DeSantis framed the reporting as a media smear. “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,” he wrote on X, according to TMZ and The Hill’s account of the post. “If the juror is being harassed, Florida will provide asylum — I’m sure he’d be welcomed and appreciated,” DeSantis added.

Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial Sept. 4 after seven days of deliberations left the panel deadlocked 11–1; Clancy’s lawyers say the holdout blocked an acquittal based on lack of criminal responsibility. Clancy, 36, is charged with first-degree murder in the Jan. 24, 2023, strangling deaths of her children Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months, and remains at Tewksbury State Hospital. A Sept. 29 hearing still looms for next steps, including whether Cruz retries the case and whether defense attorney Kevin Reddington presses dismissal and plea tracks Insanity Developing has already covered.

Friday’s reporting does not change the mistrial math by itself — but it puts the questionnaire, the restraining order, and the DA’s silence on the record while a governor turns a Massachusetts jury fight into interstate political theater.

Sources