Latest / Sid & Friends In The Morning / Donna Rotunno | Criminal Defense Lawyer Updates Listeners on the Trial of Lindsay Clancy
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Our good friend Donna Rotuno. Donna, good morning. How are you?
- 0:03Speaker 1: Good morning, Sid.
- 0:04Speaker 2: I'm great.
- 0:05Speaker 1: How are you? I'm great. Before we get to the
- 0:07Speaker 1: Lindsay Clancy stuff, I just played a cut from Colin Coward.
- 0:09Speaker 1: You know him, very famous sports guy. And he says
- 0:13Speaker 1: Caleb Williams and the Bears will finish second to the Lions.
- 0:19Speaker 1: Any thoughts?
- 0:21Speaker 2: You know, Sid, here's the thing about being a Bears fan.
- 0:24Speaker 2: You can make all the predictions you want, and you're
- 0:26Speaker 2: usually wrong. So I would love to say that because
- 0:30Speaker 2: Ben Johnson has it out for the Lions, that he
- 0:33Speaker 2: will do everything he can do to make sure that
- 0:35Speaker 2: doesn't happen. But, you know, any given Sunday, Sid.
- 0:38Speaker 1: That's well said. You're right. And he does have it out,
- 0:41Speaker 1: Ben Johnson, for the Lions. All right, let's get to
- 0:43Speaker 1: what he does. So the other day, I had you on,
- 0:48Speaker 1: and we talked about this case. And they put the
- 0:50Speaker 1: Instagram clip up on my page, and you have since
- 0:52Speaker 1: liked it. And I said that day, I said, I
- 0:55Speaker 1: don't think Lindsey Clancy is evil. I think the combination
- 0:59Speaker 1: of the meds she was on and obviously postpartum depression. Look,
- 1:03Speaker 1: what she did was evil. You murder your own children.
- 1:07Speaker 1: But I don't think that a maximum security prison is
- 1:10Speaker 1: where she belongs. I think she belongs in a crazy house.
- 1:13Speaker 1: They're going to start the, I guess, the closing arguments
- 1:16Speaker 1: at 9 o'clock this morning. What are you thinking?
- 1:20Speaker 2: I agree with you, Sid. I think the problem is
- 1:22Speaker 2: people are looking at this in two very black and
- 1:25Speaker 2: white ways. They're saying you killed three people. You're an
- 1:27Speaker 2: awful human and you should go to prison. Or they're saying,
- 1:31Speaker 2: you know, we feel so sorry for her. She's the victim.
- 1:33Speaker 2: I think neither one of those are true. I don't
- 1:36Speaker 2: think she's a victim, but I do think she deserves
- 1:39Speaker 2: the mental health defense that's available to her given the
- 1:43Speaker 2: documented history of mental health treatment, mental health diagnoses, medications
- 1:48Speaker 2: that she was on. So two things can be true
- 1:51Speaker 2: at one time. It can be an awful, horrible situation,
- 1:54Speaker 2: but also she's entitled to the defense when the defense
- 1:58Speaker 2: fits the facts. And that doesn't mean she's a victim.
- 2:01Speaker 2: So I think that there's something lost in translation here.
- 2:04Speaker 2: It's like, if you say that you don't think she
- 2:06Speaker 2: should go to prison, all of a sudden you're, you're,
- 2:08Speaker 2: you know, on her side. No, it's not that you're
- 2:11Speaker 2: on her side, right? You're right. You're saying that she
- 2:15Speaker 2: has this.
- 2:15Speaker 1: Right to have this defense. And I agree with you.
- 2:18Speaker 2: She should be in a hospital and frankly said, whatever
- 2:21Speaker 2: they do to her today or tomorrow or whatever the
- 2:24Speaker 2: jury makes the decision. She will never live a normal life.
- 2:28Speaker 2: She will live in a prison.
- 2:30Speaker 1: In her mind.
- 2:30Speaker 2: So I'm just not sure what justice really looks like.
- 2:34Speaker 2: What does it really do to put her in prison
- 2:36Speaker 2: for the rest of her life? What does that solve?
- 2:38Speaker 1: My dear friend Joe Takapina is on the show every Friday.
- 2:41Speaker 1: Great defense attorney. You know, 47 years we've been friends.
- 2:45Speaker 1: And Friday I brought up a story. It's a horrible
- 2:47Speaker 1: story about this young Pennsylvania guy. And he's dating this
- 2:52Speaker 1: very young girl on her way to a school in
- 2:55Speaker 1: Pennsylvania on a soccer scholarship. Two beautiful kids, both very
- 2:59Speaker 1: good looking. They're very, very cute. They go out and
- 3:02Speaker 1: he calls her to the house. He wants to give
- 3:04Speaker 1: her something. He runs inside the house. She thinks... He's
- 3:08Speaker 1: getting her what she's going to get. And what she
- 3:10Speaker 1: got was a brutal knife attack, and he murdered her
- 3:13Speaker 1: in the car. Now, he says, demons told me to
- 3:17Speaker 1: do it. Takapina said, okay, but hold on. He also
- 3:22Speaker 1: told his mom, help me. The mother cleaned the car.
- 3:25Speaker 1: They disposed of the body. So unlike the Lindsay Clancy case...
- 3:30Speaker 1: where I think the mental health argument is much easier.
- 3:33Speaker 1: But this guy, Moser, in Pennsylvania, he did way too
- 3:37Speaker 1: much before and after for that demon stuff to work
- 3:41Speaker 1: because we also found out he said she didn't like
- 3:44Speaker 1: something he didn't like, I should say, something she said
- 3:47Speaker 1: to him. So it looks to me like that kid's
- 3:49Speaker 1: in bigger trouble. What do you think? Well, absolutely.
- 3:52Speaker 2: And we have heard no evidence that that kid has
- 3:54Speaker 2: had any history of any mental health treatment whatsoever. So what,
- 3:58Speaker 2: all of a sudden, this normal, healthy guy hears voices?
- 4:01Speaker 2: I think that's a lot different than a woman who
- 4:03Speaker 2: has a documented history of seeking help and progressively getting worse. So, yes,
- 4:08Speaker 2: everybody says, well, you know, are these defenses going to
- 4:10Speaker 2: get out of control because of Lindsey Clancy?
- 4:13Speaker 1: No, they're not.
- 4:14Speaker 2: I mean, there may be people that make these claims
- 4:16Speaker 2: to the police when they get arrested. But if there's
- 4:19Speaker 2: no evidence of it, no lawyer is going to put
- 4:21Speaker 2: that forward in court.
- 4:23Speaker 1: Has there been new evidence with Kohlberger? He's the guy
- 4:25Speaker 1: accused of killing those four beautiful people in Idaho inside
- 4:29Speaker 1: that house off the college campus. Because I know there's
- 4:32Speaker 1: a hearing and he may have a chance to withdraw
- 4:34Speaker 1: the pleas. Why is that the case?
- 4:38Speaker 2: So Kohlberger has filed a motion to withdraw his plea,
- 4:41Speaker 2: stating basically ineffective assistance of counsel, that his rights were
- 4:45Speaker 2: violated because his lawyer told him all these things that
- 4:48Speaker 2: were not true. His lawyer kept pieces of evidence from
- 4:51Speaker 2: him that he.
- 4:51Speaker 1: Was unaware of.
- 4:53Speaker 2: And if he was aware of those things, he never
- 4:55Speaker 2: would have entered his plea. So the judge has set
- 4:58Speaker 2: a hearing down for this for next summer. So it's
- 5:02Speaker 2: a while away where Kohlberger is going to be able
- 5:05Speaker 2: to have a hearing and then the judge will determine
- 5:07Speaker 2: whether or not he can withdraw his plea. It will
- 5:09Speaker 2: depend what he claims at that hearing. My guess is
- 5:13Speaker 2: it will be denied, but it's a little too soon
- 5:15Speaker 2: to say, you know, given just what we know so far,
- 5:18Speaker 2: but he will have a hearing and the judge is.
- 5:21Speaker 1: Giving him one.
- 5:22Speaker 2: And frankly, you know, whatever happens in Coburger, whether he
- 5:25Speaker 2: can't withdraw his plea or if he can, and then
- 5:27Speaker 2: there's a trial, I think the judge will, you know,
- 5:32Speaker 2: if he gives them a trial, then they're going to
- 5:34Speaker 2: ask for the death penalty again. And, you know, nothing
- 5:37Speaker 2: is really lost. So whatever happens, happens.
- 5:39Speaker 1: I think, although it would.
- 5:40Speaker 2: Be horrible for these families to have to go through
- 5:42Speaker 2: this again, if the guy wants a trial, give him
- 5:45Speaker 2: a trial and let the government ask for death.
- 5:47Speaker 1: Well, you've been following this trial. You've heard the evidence.
- 5:49Speaker 1: Is there any doubt in your mind that Kohlberger did this?
- 5:52Speaker 2: There really isn't. And I've talked to, on my podcast,
- 5:57Speaker 2: Christopher Whitcomb, who wrote the book Broken Plea. I also
- 6:01Speaker 2: talked to Dr. Brent Turvey, who was one of the
- 6:03Speaker 2: criminologists who actually says that there was evidence that he
- 6:07Speaker 2: thought the defense should have explored. But again, you know,
- 6:11Speaker 2: I think the theory is, is that all of that
- 6:13Speaker 2: information was available to the defense at the time of
- 6:16Speaker 2: the plea. So the question will be, you know, his
- 6:20Speaker 2: lawyer will have to come and testify and Taylor, and
- 6:22Speaker 2: she will have to say what he was aware of
- 6:25Speaker 2: and what he wasn't. He has been appointed new lawyers. So,
- 6:28Speaker 2: you know, we'll see how it comes down in terms
- 6:30Speaker 2: of the evidence itself. I think that there is evidence to,
- 6:33Speaker 2: to convict him.
- 6:34Speaker 1: Overwhelming. We'll see. Yeah, we'll see. Final minute. No, you
- 6:36Speaker 1: have to go on Fox News here momentarily, but I
- 6:39Speaker 1: love watching you on TV. You do a great job.
- 6:41Speaker 1: So what are they talking about? You're welcome. Kohlberger or
- 6:44Speaker 1: Moser or Clancy. Every time I see Donna Ratuno on
- 6:48Speaker 1: Fox News, somehow they find a way to include Luigi Mangione.
- 6:54Speaker 1: What about today? Yes, they do.
- 6:57Speaker 2: I don't think we'll talk Luigi today, but Luigi today
- 7:00Speaker 2: is now a convicted felon in federal court, and he
- 7:03Speaker 2: is seeking to have his state court charges in New
- 7:06Speaker 2: York dismissed. There is a hearing set for that. I
- 7:09Speaker 2: think they go to court in October and then again
- 7:12Speaker 2: December 10th, and then he has his sentencing in federal
- 7:16Speaker 2: court December 18th. So, You know, his fate, regardless one
- 7:20Speaker 2: way or another, he will spend a very, very long
- 7:22Speaker 2: time in prison, regardless of what happens with the state charges.
- 7:26Speaker 1: He's a coward and a scumbag.
- 7:27Speaker 2: No question.
- 7:30Speaker 1: Don, I love you. I'll be watching you on Fox News.
- 7:32Speaker 1: I got it on inside my studio right here in
- 7:33Speaker 1: about seven minutes. Thank you for another amazing appearance. We'll
- 7:36Speaker 1: talk again very, very soon. Thank you. Anytime, sir. Thanks.
- 7:39Speaker 1: Donna Rotuno right there, Fox News. And she really is great.
- 7:42Speaker 1: All these big cases and lots of crazy people out there, Justin.
- 7:46Speaker 1: My crazy people. Crazy. Yeah, I'm one of them. Yeah,
- 7:49Speaker 1: but you haven't committed any awful crimes. That's true. I mean,
- 7:51Speaker 1: you are crazy, but you're not a criminal.
- 7:55Speaker 2: No.
- 7:55Speaker 1: As far as I know. I don't know. I'm not
- 7:57Speaker 1: with you all day, every day. I don't know what
- 7:58Speaker 1: you do.
- 7:59Speaker 2: He's crazy.
- 7:59Speaker 1: He is, right? Yeah, he's crazy. He has a bed.
- 8:02Speaker 1: Small misdemeanors. He has a loft. He lives in a
- 8:05Speaker 1: very small apartment, Justin, in New York City.
- 8:07Speaker 2: Okay?
- 8:07Speaker 1: Very small.
- 8:08Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 8:08Speaker 1: And he has a bed. It's a loft. It's a loft.
- 8:10Speaker 1: So what he does is, because he's a filthy degenerate,
- 8:14Speaker 1: he makes the girl walk up the stairs first. The stairs?
- 8:18Speaker 1: It's a ladder. The ladder. He makes the girl walk
- 8:21Speaker 1: up the ladder first so he can look at her.
- 8:25Speaker 1: Hopefully she's wearing, for Justin at least, a mini skirt
- 8:28Speaker 1: or I don't know what. Usually nothing, but that's fine.
- 8:31Speaker 1: Is that right? God, look at you. That's not true.
- 8:35Speaker 1: Is that true? No. But why did that story come out?
- 8:38Speaker 1: Did he make the girl walk up first, even? Why
- 8:40Speaker 1: did that even come out? I don't know. You seem
- 8:42Speaker 1: to get some weird things out of me sometimes, so... Oh,
- 8:45Speaker 1: so you actually did tell me that? Yeah, I said
- 8:47Speaker 1: it on the air. I don't remember if it was
- 8:48Speaker 1: Noam or somebody else. Yeah, I think so. So you
- 8:50Speaker 1: were bragging about that? Yes, yes. Yeah, for sure. Okay,
- 8:53Speaker 1: so you do have, at least, at the very least,
- 8:55Speaker 1: a deviant, right?
- 8:57Speaker 2: Um.
- 8:58Speaker 1: Yeah. Yes. Is your mom listening right now? I would
- 9:01Speaker 1: say that's being generous. All right. Donna does a great job.
- 9:07Speaker 1: And we covered four major cases here on Sid and
- 9:10Speaker 1: Friends in the morning.
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