The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!
The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!

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Lindsay Clancy’s lawyer asks President Trump to pardon her

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BS BULLETIN:

  • Lindsay Clancy’s lawyer publicly appealed to President Trump Tuesday to pardon his client after her triple-murder trial ended with a hung jury.
  • Clancy admitted killing her three young children but argued she was not criminally responsible because of postpartum psychosis.
  • One problem: Trump has no power to pardon Massachusetts state crimes.

Lindsay Clancy’s attorney is looking for a way out of another murder trial — and he just appealed to the most powerful man in America.

Unfortunately for him, President Donald Trump doesn’t have the particular power he’s asking for.

Attorney Kevin Reddington appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Tuesday following last week’s mistrial and made a remarkable direct appeal to the president.

“Mr. President, I would hope that you would consider this young lady,” Reddington said, asking Trump to consider what Clancy has been through and grant her a pardon.

There’s a rather significant constitutional obstacle.

Presidential pardon power applies to federal offenses. Clancy was prosecuted by Massachusetts authorities on state murder charges, putting any pardon beyond Trump’s reach.

Clancy, 36, did not dispute killing her three children — 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan — in the family’s Duxbury home in January 2023.

The question at trial was whether she was criminally responsible.

Her defense argued that Clancy was suffering from postpartum psychosis and should be found not guilty by reason of insanity. Prosecutors maintained that despite her mental illness, Clancy understood what she was doing and was legally responsible for the killings.

After seven days of deliberations, the jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict.

Reddington said Tuesday that the split was 11-1, with one juror holding out for conviction. The defense unsuccessfully went to Massachusetts’ highest court in an eleventh-hour attempt to prevent the mistrial.

Trump himself weighed in on the case Friday.

He called it a “horrible tragedy” and said Clancy had done a “horrible, horrible thing,” while suggesting the eventual consequence could involve either a mental institution or prison. Trump did not indicate that he supported pardoning her.

Reddington is also hoping for a more conventional resolution.

He told ABC that he hopes prosecutors will reconsider the case after seeing the evidence presented at trial and negotiate an agreement acceptable to both sides. Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz has not yet announced whether Clancy will be retried.

Clancy remains in custody and under psychiatric care at Tewksbury State Hospital. The case is scheduled to return to court later this month.

So Reddington’s presidential Hail Mary makes for one heck of a headline.

As a legal strategy, however, he’ll need a Plan B.

MY QUICK TAKE:

This may be the first presidential pardon request where the president’s answer doesn’t matter.

Whatever anyone thinks about Lindsay Clancy’s culpability, Massachusetts charged her, Massachusetts tried her, and Massachusetts has to decide what happens next.

The Constitution doesn’t contain a “but the president saw it on TV” exception.

DBS WIRE SOURCES:

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