Clancy lawyer seeks deal after mistrial in children’s deaths

Lindsay Clancy’s lawyer said he hopes to reach an agreement with Massachusetts prosecutors after a jury deadlocked in her murder trial, while also making an unusual appeal to President Donald Trump to consider a pardon in the case.

Kevin Reddington spoke Tuesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” days after a judge declared a mistrial in the closely watched case involving the deaths of Clancy’s three children: Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months old.

“I would hope that you would consider this young lady, the type of person she is, what she’s been through, and consider a pardon,” Reddington said, addressing Trump.

The request was unusual because Clancy is being prosecuted in Massachusetts state court, and presidential pardon power applies to federal crimes. The BBC reported that pardon authority in the state case would lie with Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey. NBC News reported that the White House referred to Trump’s previous comments about the case.

Trump was asked about the trial Friday and said he had been following it. He called the case “a shame” and a “horrible tragedy,” according to The Guardian. “Look, she did a horrible, horrible thing,” Trump said. “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 mental institution or jail or something, but I guess they’re going to go through another trial.”

Clancy, 36, was charged after prosecutors said she strangled her children in the family’s Duxbury, Massachusetts, home in January 2023. She then threw herself out of a bedroom window in an apparent suicide attempt that left her paralyzed.

At trial, prosecutors argued that Clancy understood what she was doing and had planned the killings, including by making sure her husband was out of the house. The Guardian reported that prosecutors said she “coldly and efficiently executed” the children.

Reddington argued that Clancy was suffering from postpartum psychosis and acted under auditory hallucinations that compelled her to kill the children. The BBC reported that Clancy does not deny killing them but says there was no premeditation and that she was experiencing psychosis at the time.

During the trial, defense psychiatrist Dr. Phillip Resnick testified that Clancy had “severe depression” and a history of anxiety that worsened after the birth of her children, The Guardian reported. “At the time of the crime … Ms Clancy was frankly psychotic,” Resnick said. “She was clearly psychotic on that day.” Prosecutors’ experts questioned the defense account, with one saying it was unusual for Clancy to have heard voices only on the day of the killings, according to the BBC.

Jurors deliberated for more than 38 hours but could not reach a unanimous verdict. The BBC reported that the jury had been weighing outcomes ranging from not guilty by reason of insanity to manslaughter and first-degree murder. Reddington said he believed the jury split was 11-1 in favor of not guilty by lack of criminal responsibility, though NBC News reported he acknowledged he did not know that for certain and had not spoken with jurors.

Reddington said he was upset because he believed the holdout juror “would not apply the law of reasonable doubt.” He added: “That’s not right. And that’s why I was upset.” Still, he said he defends a juror’s right “to be a holdout for forever,” because that is how the judicial system works.

Reddington said he hopes District Attorney Timothy Cruz will reconsider the case after hearing the evidence and “would be able to work something out that would be acceptable to both sides.” The BBC reported that Reddington also intends to file a motion seeking to have the mistrial reconsidered, which could come up at a hearing later this month.

Lawyers for Patrick Clancy, Lindsay Clancy’s ex-husband and the children’s father, also issued a statement Tuesday condemning online claims that he was involved in the deaths. They called the claims a “campaign of misinformation” and said it had caused “real life threats to his reputation, livelihood, and life.” The statement said law enforcement has been notified and that legal action may be pursued.