The lawyer for Lindsay Clancy publicly urged former President Donald Trump on Tuesday to grant a pardon in her case involving the killing of her three young children, despite the fact that Trump lacks the authority to intervene in state-level criminal prosecutions.
Kevin Reddington, representing Clancy, made the appeal during an interview on “Good Morning America,” asking Trump to consider a pardon based on Clancy’s personal circumstances. However, legal experts emphasized that the U.S. Constitution restricts presidential pardons to federal offenses, meaning the president cannot pardon state charges pending against Clancy in Massachusetts.
Clancy’s trial concluded last Friday with a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict. She faces three counts of first-degree murder in Massachusetts, where she pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
“It’s not a federal case, and the pardon power only covers federal cases, and that’s very clearly established,” said Mark Osler, a law professor specializing in clemency issues. Elizabeth G. Oyer, who served as the Justice Department’s pardon attorney from 2002 to 2025, also confirmed that any reprieve would have to come from the governor of Massachusetts, not the president.
A spokesman for Reddington, Dan Nardo, acknowledged that the pardon request was not a formal legal maneuver, but rather a public call for mercy extending from the White House to local authorities in Plymouth County. Nardo expressed hope that Trump’s intervention might influence Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz, who is deciding whether to retry Clancy or pursue lesser charges. Both Trump and Cruz are Republicans.
“This administration is able to get a lot done in unique ways,” Nardo said.
Trump’s legal authority has been used previously to shield allies and issue pardons that challenge established norms. In one state-level precedent last December, Trump gave a pardon to Tina Peters, a former Colorado county clerk convicted of tampering with voting machines. Although Trump’s pardon had no legal effect on the state conviction, Colorado’s Democratic Governor Jared Polis later commuted Peters’s sentence, saying he did so independently because he considered the punishment too severe.
Legal analysts said Reddington’s appeal might be intended to create symbolic pressure on prosecutors and the Massachusetts governor. “It could be that if Trump can do the same type of signaling at a federal level, then the governor of Massachusetts will follow,” Osler said.
Reddington has argued that Clancy was experiencing postpartum psychosis and overmedication when she strangled her children in 2023, while prosecutors maintain she was aware of her actions and should be held criminally responsible.
A White House spokesman deferred to Trump’s earlier comments after the mistrial, in which the former president described the situation as “terrible” and called Clancy’s actions “horrible.” Trump said there would be consequences but left open the possibility of mental health treatment or prison.
No public response was yet available from District Attorney Cruz’s office regarding the pardon request.