You don’t have time for three hours of doomscrolling, twenty half-baked takes, and some guy online screaming READ THE THREAD. We are Front Page Detectives, this is your morning Drive-By, and here is what is real.
Kevin Reddington publicly appealed to the president despite acknowledging that Trump has no constitutional authority to pardon somebody facing Massachusetts murder charges.
Lindsay Clancy’s attorney has pulled Donald Trump into the increasingly political battle over her future, publicly asking the president to pardon his client even though he knew Trump had absolutely no legal power to do so.
Kevin Reddington made the appeal Tuesday on Good Morning America, urging Trump to consider Clancy’s circumstances following the mistrial in her triple-murder case. His spokesman later acknowledged the obvious constitutional problem that presidential pardons cover federal offenses, while Clancy faces three first-degree murder charges under Massachusetts law. Any clemency would have to come through the state, and Gov. Maura Healey says the issue is premature because Clancy has not even been convicted.
That makes Reddington’s appeal less a legal maneuver than another calculated publicity offensive. His spokesman openly said the idea was to generate pressure on Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz as prosecutors decide whether to retry Clancy. Reddington has also said he is willing to negotiate another resolution.
After an 11-1 hung jury and an already ferocious public debate, dragging the president into a state murder case risks turning a future prosecution into an even bigger partisan circus. Clancy returns to court September 29.
Hot Take: Reddington knows Trump cannot pardon her. That is precisely why this smells less like law than theater. First came the attempt to remove a holdout juror. Now comes an impossible presidential pardon request designed to make Clancy a national political cause. Every headline makes finding twelve genuinely impartial jurors harder. If the case eventually becomes impossible to retry fairly, nobody should pretend that happened by accident.
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The wrongful-death lawsuit accuses David Anthony Burke and others around him of knowing about or enabling his alleged relationship with the teenage victim.
The parents of Celeste Rivas Hernandez have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against singer D4vd as he awaits trial over the 14-year-old’s killing.
Mercedes Martinez and Jesus Rivas are seeking unspecified damages from D4vd, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, along with companies, managers, a security guard and his mother. The lawsuit alleges some defendants knew or should have known about Burke’s alleged relationship with Celeste and accuses others of helping provide housing, transportation or concealment. It claims the sexual relationship began in November 2023, when Celeste was 13.
Burke has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child and unlawful mutilation of human remains after prosecutors accused him of dismembering Celeste and leaving her body in his Tesla. He was recently declared indigent and assigned a public defender after his private legal team departed. His father also recently sold one Houston property after borrowing $138,000 against another, though no connection to Burke’s legal expenses has been established.
Hot Take: The criminal courtroom decides guilt. The civil courtroom follows the money, the enablers and everybody who allegedly looked the other way. Celeste’s parents clearly intend to search every room.
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Federal prosecutors say the Grammy-winning rapper financed a revenge attack that killed Quando Rondo’s cousin. His defense blames a former assistant.
Lil Durk’s federal murder-for-hire trial has entered its final stage, with jurors preparing to decide whether the rapper ordered a 2022 revenge hit that killed the wrong man.
Prosecutors allege Durk, whose real name is Durk Banks, bankrolled a crew sent from Chicago to Los Angeles to kill rapper Quando Rondo following the 2020 death of Banks’ close friend King Von. The August 2022 ambush near the Beverly Center instead killed Rondo’s 24-year-old cousin Saviay’a Robinson after a gunman fired at least 18 rounds into their vehicle.
Banks’ lawyers say he neither ordered nor financed the attack and instead blame former personal assistant Kavon Grant, who later testified for prosecutors after reaching a plea agreement. Two other associates also became government witnesses. Banks and two co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to charges including murder-for-hire, conspiracy and stalking resulting in death. Banks faces the possibility of life in federal prison if convicted.
Hot Take: Revenge cases are built in the shadows, then prosecuted with whoever eventually turns on whoever. The jury now has to decide whether Durk was the man giving the orders or simply the biggest name standing nearby.
His attorney says influencers have spread false claims accusing the grieving father of involvement and warns the campaign has now produced real-world threats.
Patrick Clancy is threatening legal action against social media personalities and conspiracy theorists who have accused him of involvement in the murders of his three children.
Attorney Howard Cooper said Patrick and his family have endured an escalating “defamation campaign” involving allegations his lawyers describe as knowingly false. Among the most prominent came from former Real Housewives star Lisa Rinna, who publicly claimed Patrick, rather than Lindsay Clancy, killed Cora, Dawson and Callan. Cooper says the accusations have spread through online influencers and now created threats to Patrick’s reputation, livelihood and personal safety. Law enforcement has been notified.
Patrick discovered the children after returning from errands Lindsay had asked him to run, and jurors heard his devastating 911 call during her murder trial. He was also the prosecution’s first witness and testified openly about Lindsay’s worsening psychiatric condition before the killings. Cooper says those continuing to spread accusations should expect consequences, including possible legal action.
Hot Take: Patrick Clancy found his children dead, called 911 in absolute horror and then testified under oath about the woman accused of killing them. Turning him into content for amateur internet detectives is not skepticism. It is cruelty wearing a ring light.
Andrew and Tristan Tate face fresh trafficking and money-laundering accusations while simultaneously fighting extradition from the United States to Britain.
Andrew and Tristan Tate are facing another major criminal case after Romanian prosecutors indicted them over the alleged exploitation of a girl who was 15 when authorities say Andrew recruited her.
Romania’s DIICOT agency alleges Andrew Tate persuaded the teenager into a supposed romantic relationship in England in 2012 before she was pushed into webcam work and explicit content production. Prosecutors claim the exploitation later continued in Romania through threats, surveillance, psychological pressure and violence. Tristan allegedly knew she was underage and helped manage accounts and proceeds. Authorities say approximately $1.25 million was generated and are seeking confiscation of that money and four luxury vehicles.
Andrew also faces allegations involving sexual activity with another 15-year-old between 2020 and 2021. Both brothers deny wrongdoing. The case is separate from their earlier Romanian prosecution and comes while they remain jailed in Miami fighting British extradition proceedings involving 59 charges and seven alleged victims.
Hot Take: The Tate brothers now have prosecutors circling in Romania and Britain while they fight from a Miami jail. When your legal problems require a world map, the bravado starts sounding a little less convincing.
