Crime
Clancy’s defense attorney has urged Trump to intervene in her case, but the state-level prosecution falls outside his pardoning powers.
President Donald Trump is sidestepping calls from Lindsay Clancy’s defense attorney to pardon her for killing her children, telling reporters Sunday the matter is a “state situation.”
“It’s a very sad situation,” Trump told reporters Sunday during a visit to Ireland, reflecting on defense attorney Kevin Reddington’s request.
“I appreciate that he feels that way,” Trump said of Reddington. “And he’s a good attorney. I’ve heard from other people he’s a very good attorney.”
Reddington previously urged the president to consider pardoning Clancy after Trump took an interest in the Duxbury mother’s Sept. 4 mistrial and called her case “a horrible tragedy.” Reddington later acknowledged Trump doesn’t actually have the power to grant clemency in Clancy’s state-level case and explained that he simply wanted to ramp up pressure on Plymouth District Attorney Tim Cruz, a fellow Republican, ahead of a potential retrial.
Clancy, 36, is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan. While she doesn’t deny strangling all three children at home on Jan. 24, 2023, Clancy maintains she cannot be held criminally responsible in light of her mental health. Specifically, she alleges she was experiencing postpartum psychosis at the time and heard a voice in her head ordering her to kill the children and herself. Prosecutors, however, argue Clancy was still able to tell right from wrong and control her actions, even as her mental health deteriorated in the weeks and months prior to the killings.
Following a high-profile murder trial that spanned several weeks, Judge William Sullivan declared a mistrial after jurors returned deadlocked. Prosecutors have not yet said whether they plan to retry Clancy on first-degree murder, reduce or dismiss the charges, or attempt to negotiate a plea deal.
“There is no winner there,” Trump said Sunday. “There’s no win, no matter what you do. Three children are dead. So I don’t know. It’s actually a state situation, you know, not a federal.”
A state-level pardon would fall to Gov. Maura Healey, who said last week she can’t recommend pardoning Clancy without a conviction in place.
Trump also appeared to raise the possibility of the prosecution and defense reaching an agreement to resolve Clancy’s case, telling reporters, “I hope they can work it out. That’s something they have to work out.”
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