Lindsay Clancy Trial: What the Crime Scene Trooper Failed to Document

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: After a very good direct examination, the state trooper here kind of went off the rails with the defense in their cross-examination, and it was really interesting to see. Stick around. We'll go through it. Hi, Tony DeWitt here. I am a retired Missouri attorney who has now unretired so that I can bring you some commentary on trials and that sort of thing. Because I deal generally with legal topics, I'm not offering any legal advice, and I'm not intending to form any lawyer-client relationships with any of you. I'm simply presenting some information. I am a content creator. I am not currently practicing law, although I do maintain my license in the state of Missouri. This is a trial channel, and today we're discussing a trial. In fact, this is what we're discussing today. This is a recap for our newer viewers. On January 24, 2023, Lindsay Clancy's three young children died in their Duxbury, Massachusetts home. The state says Clancy deliberately planned their deaths and understood what she was doing. The defense acknowledges that she caused deaths, but argues she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis and was not criminally responsible. The central question is not who caused the deaths, that's a known, but whether Clancy was legally responsible when they occurred. I've been critical of the direct examinations done by the prosecution in this case for a number of reasons, and some of them are untethered to the actual presentation of evidence. They're more or less criticisms of the style and also the substance of the depth of the examinations. But when the state trooper got on the stand, who is the crime scene guy, I actually thought that the prosecution did a really good job of getting him to explain what happens in a crime scene, and particularly crime scene investigation. Let's take a listen. [00:02:20] Speaker 2: As far as your response to particular scenes, do you often go out to crime scenes in tandem with or with a crime scene response unit investigator, a forensic scientist? [00:02:33] Speaker 3: Yes. [00:02:35] Speaker 2: And you indicated that one of the first things and one of the main things you do is document scenes. Is it best practice to be kind of that first in after a scene is secured to document the scene as it appeared? [00:02:47] Speaker 3: Yes. [00:02:47] Speaker 2: And how do you do that? [00:02:49] Speaker 3: So when you respond to a scene, usually the town that you respond to, the local police department will secure the scene, which means they don't allow anyone in to disrupt the scene until you get there. Then you start with photographing the exterior of the residence, and then you walk in and just document the entire scene room by room as it is. [00:03:10] Speaker 2: And after that's done, do you kind of go back through and highlight or identify in any way particular things that may be relevant to the investigation? Yes. The crime scene you're responding to? [00:03:22] Speaker 3: Yes. [00:03:23] Speaker 2: And how do you identify in the documentation items that might have some relevance or evidentiary value? [00:03:31] Speaker 3: So some items might kind of be obvious that they're involved in the crime that are still there, those you want to document further. And sometimes a detective or detective unit or a member will ask you to document another piece of evidence that they would like collected or they would like further looked at. [00:03:52] Speaker 2: And you indicated that with crime scene services, you respond to all different kinds of scenes and all different types of law enforcement. So sometimes do you work with the local city or town departments? [00:04:05] Speaker 3: Yes. [00:04:06] Speaker 2: And in investigations where a death has occurred, who are the primary law enforcement that you're working with? [00:04:13] Speaker 3: So they'll be local and there will also be the county state police detective unit will also respond for any death investigation. [00:04:21] Speaker 2: Now when you are processing a scene or documenting a scene, do you do anything to identify and highlight the items that have been either pointed out to you or that you've seen that could have value in the case? [00:04:34] Speaker 3: Yes. [00:04:35] Speaker 2: What do you do? [00:04:36] Speaker 3: So with those we put what's called placards and placards are pieces of plastic that have numbers on them. That way when you're going through the photos, you can refer to them as placard one, placard two, and so on and so forth. [00:04:48] Speaker 2: And as far as further processing the scene between yourself and the crime scene response, are some items sometimes collected by either yourself or the crime scene response unit? [00:04:59] Speaker 3: Yes. [00:04:59] Speaker 2: And when you collect an item, do you identify it in some other way? [00:05:04] Speaker 3: Yes. When you collect an item and it's put into evidence in the lab, it's given a lab number. The lab number doesn't have to match up with the placard number. The placard's simply for your photos and then the lab number is the number that will be associated with that piece of evidence all through the crime lab procedure process, all the way through the trial. [00:05:26] Speaker 2: And when you go to crime scenes for inside houses, for instance, is it oftentimes the case that you are processing the crime scene at the same time investigators are getting into a location with a search warrant? [00:05:40] Speaker 3: Yes. [00:05:40] Speaker 2: And so when that's the circumstance, do you photograph and document everything that you can? [00:05:48] Speaker 3: I'm sorry, can you? [00:05:49] Speaker 2: Sure, I can. That's a bad question. When you are with kind of the local law enforcement, do you document things oftentimes that maybe you don't collect and take back to the lab or the forensic scientist doesn't, but might have value or relevance to the police? [00:06:04] Speaker 3: Yes. [00:06:05] Speaker 1: All in all, a reasonably competent examination of the trooper in that regard. Now she's going to move on to some things that were actually collected and done on the day, or I guess the day or the day after the events at issue in the case. [00:06:24] Speaker 2: If I tell you that you documented eight specific placards at the crime scene on that particular day, does that sound about right? Yes, it does. Okay. Including a brown belt, some exercise bands, three in particular, a pair of red pajamas, a pink sweatshirt or a robe, a pink piece of clothing, a knife with a black handle, and a phone. Does that sound right? [00:06:54] Speaker 3: It does. [00:06:55] Speaker 2: And I won't go through each and every item because we've seen several of those items before, but just in particular, as it relates to placards seven and eight, I'm just going to ask you to take a look at some photos, okay? [00:07:15] Speaker 3: Okay. [00:07:21] Speaker 2: So I'm showing you a photograph of placard seven, is that familiar to you? [00:07:25] Speaker 3: Yes, it is. [00:07:25] Speaker 2: And what is the placard seven? What was that to highlight or depict? [00:07:29] Speaker 3: That was a knife covering a red-brown stain found in the upstairs master bedroom. [00:07:36] Speaker 4: That may be admitted. [00:07:39] Speaker 2: Okay. And I'm showing you another photograph with depicting placard number eight. Is that familiar to you? [00:07:46] Speaker 3: Yes. [00:07:47] Speaker 2: And that was a cell phone that was also noted in your documentation of the scene, correct? [00:07:53] Speaker 4: Yes. That may be admitted. [00:08:07] Speaker 2: Now, as far as collecting of particular items on this scene, you're aware that there were several of the placarded items that were collected by Crime Scene Services to take back to the lab? [00:08:23] Speaker 3: Yes. [00:08:23] Speaker 2: And fair to say the yellow exercise band at placard number two, the black exercise band at placard number three, the blue exercise band at placard number four, the red pajamas, and the silver knife with the black candle were all collected? [00:08:41] Speaker 3: Yes. I believe the red pajamas were collected by the Crime Scene Response Unit. [00:08:48] Speaker 2: Okay. Do you recall collecting the knife? [00:08:53] Speaker 3: Yes. [00:08:54] Speaker 2: Why would you collect the knife as part of the Crime Scene Response? Excuse me. [00:08:57] Speaker 4: There's no objection to any of this physical evidence. Hi. I'm going to allow this line of inquiry just to kind of put things in perspective. Go ahead. [00:09:06] Speaker 2: Thank you. Why would you collect the knife as part of the Crime Scene Services as opposed to the Crime Scene Response? [00:09:13] Speaker 3: So we would collect the knife because that would be an item that would be processed for fingerprints at the lab. [00:09:19] Speaker 2: And based on your training and experience, a fingerprint analysis, is that something that should happen before any other biological testing? [00:09:27] Speaker 1: Yes. Although I've shortened it, it's taken her about 14 minutes to get to this point in the examination. And now we're going to find out about those fingerprints that he collected, and let's see what happens. [00:09:43] Speaker 2: And so as it pertains to these items that you reviewed, the knife, the exercise bands, can you tell us what your findings were when it came to the knife? [00:09:54] Speaker 3: Yes, the knife did have limited detail, meaning that there were areas of friction ridge impressions, which is referred, that's what we've referred to fingerprints, is the friction ridge skin is the skin that covers your palms and your fingers and your toes and your feet. The friction ridge skin is what leaves the impression on an object. So there was an area of friction ridge impression on that knife. So it was photographed further and given an item number. Upon further analysis, there was not enough detail to do a comparison. [00:10:33] Speaker 1: I really feel like there should be a referee saying, after further review, the play stands as cold. You lose. You lose all of that to get to the fingerprint, and now we're going to hear the fingerprint. And guess what? There was no fingerprint. You can't make this stuff up. Like I said before, it's like they knew they wanted to go somewhere, and they all got in the car, and somebody started driving, but nobody knows where the heck they're going to go. But, on the other hand, the defense attorney has a few questions for our friend, the trooper. Thank you, brother. [00:11:20] Speaker 4: Mr. Ratington. So, basically, how long is your course that you take to become a crime scene technician for the state police? [00:11:35] Speaker 1: Apparently not long enough. [00:11:37] Speaker 4: So, before you're certified for fingerprints, it's usually about a year. So, you're working in that crime scene services unit for a year while you're going to the school for it? [00:11:48] Speaker 3: Yes, it's more of an internal training. You don't go to a specific school, but yes. [00:11:54] Speaker 4: So, you told us about your training. You told us about your experience. You told us about fingerprints. You told us how you seize items in the course of a search warrant. And then you told us about looking at the photographs and the items that would depict Friction Ridge, if any. But the bottom line is that you didn't get any fingerprints. Correct. And that, you could have just said that, right? Just come on the witness stand and say, well, you didn't get any fingerprints. It's a state. So, then you're talking about, as the state police investigating this case, you guys walk around and you have cameras and you take pictures, right? Yes. That's what you told us about. Well, how about when you're executing a search warrant? Are you supposed to be thorough in the course of your search for items? [00:12:41] Speaker 3: I don't search for items, sir. Everything I do is. [00:12:44] Speaker 4: You're just, right? [00:12:44] Speaker 3: Yes, I document. [00:12:45] Speaker 4: So, if I went into the bedroom, if I found a bunch of drugs, in addition to the drugs that were found in the kitchen, and I found these in a nightstand, with blood on top of the nightstand, and the knife that you talked about, you would have photographed that, right? [00:13:01] Speaker 3: Yes. [00:13:02] Speaker 4: Never saw that thing. [00:13:04] Speaker 3: No. [00:13:10] Speaker 4: I have no further questions. [00:13:13] Speaker 1: I'm sorry, but that's pretty funny. She walked him through all of the processes that he uses, talks about fingerprints and collecting evidence and all that stuff. And then, Reddington gets up and points out, the stuff that really matters in this case, like the drugs, you don't photograph them, you don't collect them. And then, I've got no more questions. It reminded me of the line in My Cousin Vinny, I got no further use for this guy. I have to tell you, I just love Reddington because he communicates a lot with derision of the state's case. And that's really fun to watch. And the judge is letting him get by with it. I mean, he didn't let him get by with, you could have just said that, because that was really argumentative and was a proper objection. But the jury heard it, they heard the question, and they're wondering the same thing. Yeah, why couldn't he just say that? This has been an interesting case on a number of different levels. And certainly, in this regard, it's been a great case to watch a really good defense attorney in a difficult case. I mean, he's got a tough road to hoe, and he's doing a pretty good job. All right, that's what I have for you this morning. Thank you so much for being here. Catch me again next time. Thanks for watching my video. I really appreciate it. And today, as you go about your business, would you try to do just one kind thing for somebody? It doesn't have to be a big thing. You can open a door for somebody who has their arms full. You could buy somebody a Coke. You could let the manager know when somebody did a really good job for you at the grocery store, or at Walmart, or someplace else. There are all kinds of things we can do to make people's lives better. And a lot of times, people will always remember to go to the manager and complain. They very seldom remember to go to the manager and say, Hey, you know, that guy over there in produce is top notch. And I think it's really important to do that, because I want to make the world a better place. I know you're here, probably, because you want to make the world a better place. So let's do that. Now, let's be respectful of one another. And thank God we live in the greatest country in the free world. I do think that the good folks at YouTube have a few things they want to show you up here that you might be interested in. And if you are, I'd appreciate you clicking. Thanks. Have a great day.