President Trump has stated he will not offer a presidential pardon to Lindsay Clancy, whose murder trial recently concluded with a hung jury. Trump indicated that his intervention is not possible because the case is a "state situation, not a federal" matter.
"It's a very sad situation," Trump told reporters on Sunday. "I certainly heard that, but look, it's very sad. There is no winner there. There's no win no matter what you do. Three children are dead."
Clancy's defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, had appealed to the president for a pardon during television appearances following the mistrial. Reddington acknowledged on CBS Boston that Trump legally could not grant a pardon for state charges, but suggested the president's influence could still be helpful.
"If President Trump feels that this is a case that warrants that type of intervention from the executive branch, if you will — even though, legally, it's not a federal case — he certainly has an awful lot of clout," Reddington said. "I think any type of help that we can get is helpful."
Trump commented that he had heard Reddington is a "very good attorney" and added, "I hope they can work something out. That's something they have to work out."
Clancy, 36, is accused of strangling her three young children in their Massachusetts home in 2023. Her defense team has argued that she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis at the time of the killings. The trial ended in a mistrial when one juror reportedly refused to find her not guilty by reason of insanity. A retrial may be considered by prosecutors.
Should Clancy be retried and found not guilty by reason of insanity, she would likely spend an extended period in a state-run hospital.
