First, let me make clear that I'm not a lawyer by training. However, my work life has been spent in courts and rubbing shoulders with lawyers, and I think that for a layman I have a pretty good understanding of the law.

That said, I believe that an individual must personally witness a crime being committed at the time in order to make a valid citizen's arrest. If that is true, this was in fact only "political theater", even if she had not been hustled off.

If she indeed touched him, however fleetingly (let alone getting handcuffs on him), that's battery.

As to pardons, I'm pretty sure that a pardon goes only to criminal charges or potential charges, and does not affect any civil claims or remedies. I stand to be corrected if wrong.

Dave Oesterreich