Defense attorney Kevin Reddington for the Massachusetts mother accused of killing her three young children filed an appeal to President Donald Trump on Tuesday, requesting a pardon after the jury deadlocked 11-1 and the judge declared a mistrial.
Lindsay Clancy’s Defense Requests a Pardon
Lindsay Clancy’s six-week-long trial did not conclude as expected or as hoped for by either side. While the public is divided on what should have happened to the former labor and delivery nurse, the jury was only one stubborn juror away from reaching a unanimous not guilty verdict.
Clancy’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, who did a phenomenal job defending his client against the harshness and directness of the prosecuting counsel, filed an appeal directly to the President, asking him to consider a pardon after the high-profile case concluded unfavorably last Friday.
“Mr. President, I would hope that you would consider this young lady – the type of person she is and what she’s been through – and consider a pardon,” Reddington told “Good Morning America,” when asked about the next steps for Clancy after the mistrial.
Donald Trump’s Comments on The Case
Clancy is only facing state murder charges, and Reddington did not note how he expected President Trump to get involved since presidents historically do not have the authority to pardon state charges. The 75-year-old veteran attorney took the mistrial as a win, and is likely doing everything in his power to prevent a second trial.
Reddington said that he hoped Trump would weigh in on the situation since he already “felt compelled to speak out about this case,” when speaking with reporters last week.
“It’s a horrible tragedy,” Trump said. “Look, she did a horrible, horrible thing. Can’t be worse. But you’ll find out what the price to pay is. There’ll be a price. It’s going to be [a] mental institution or jail or something.”
President Trump was right about there being a “price to pay,” as there were only two other outcomes at the trial. Clancy was facing first-degree murder charges in the deaths of her three children–Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months– and if convicted, she would have been sentenced to prison.
However, if she was found not guilty by lack of criminal responsibility, she would be committed to a mental hospital for evaluations and treatment.
A Snap Decision
Reddington formed a noticeably strong bond with Clancy throughout the trial and, in a sit-down interview, called her “a wonderful, wonderful person.”
Each defense witness called to the stand mentioned how great a mother Clancy was, how lovely and kind a woman, so it seemed evident she snapped while suffering from postpartum psychosis and would not have harmed her children otherwise.
“Just a wonderful neighbor, friend, wife, mother,” Reddington said. “I do feel a very strong bond with Lindsay.”
Reddington Comments on Backlash
After the mistrial was declared, Reddington spoke with reporters outside the courtroom, gushing about his win. He went so far as to say the case “crushed” District Attorney Tim Cruz, which he later admitted he should have been more careful about, but said he does not regret it.
“That’s just bravado,” he said, smiling and blaming it on the “emotions” of finishing a “six-, seven-week trial.” He added that he believed Cruz “did a good job” with his defense.
Reddington was also blamed for putting the blame on one juror for not siding with the others and leading the case to a mistrial. However, he defended himself against the outrage that followed. “I would defend that individual’s right to be a holdout for forever; that’s part of our judicial system. I respect that and I would certainly defend his right to do that,” he said.
He explained his frustration stemmed not from the lone holdout, but from the juror who held up a not guilty verdict, saying he “had doubt but would not apply reasonable doubt,” resulting in an 11-1 decision. “That’s not right, and that’s why I was upset,” Reddington said.
