Commonwealth v. Clancy, August 27, 2026
Written ahead of the sitting. With the evidence closed, Thursday is expected to bring the closing arguments and Judge Sullivan's instructions on the law, and on East Idaho News's account the start of the jury's deliberations. The instructions are also where two unresolved defense requests — involuntary manslaughter on the verdict slip, and an instruction on involuntary intoxication — will finally show.
Key points
- THE CLOSING ARGUMENTS ARE EXPECTED IN THE MORNING. That is what Judge William Sullivan told the jurors on Wednesday afternoon as he sent them home, after the Commonwealth rested and the evidence closed. It is the bench's expectation, and nothing recorded here has taken place. NBC Boston and Boston Globe, August 26, 1:14 p.m.
- THE JURY IS EXPECTED TO GET THE CASE THE SAME DAY, THOUGH THE ACCOUNTS HAVE DIFFERED. East Idaho News reports Judge Sullivan telling the jurors on Wednesday that they would hear the closings and the charge and then get the case for their deliberations Thursday, and CT Insider reports the same sequence. NBC News had earlier reported him putting deliberations no earlier than Friday. All of it is recorded here, and none of it is a date fixed on the record. East Idaho News, August 26, 1:14 p.m.; CT Insider, August 26, 1:29 p.m.
- NO WITNESSES ARE EXPECTED. Both sides have rested and the evidence is closed, so there is nothing further for the jury to hear before the arguments and the charge. Boston Globe, August 26, 1:14 p.m.
- WHAT THE JUDGE TELLS THE JURY IS WHERE TWO OPEN DEFENSE REQUESTS WILL SHOW. On August 20 the defense asked that involuntary manslaughter be put on the verdict slip and that the jury be instructed on involuntary intoxication. No outlet has reported a ruling on either. The lawyers were due back in court at half past two on Wednesday for the conference on the instructions, which CT Insider describes as a meeting between the judge and the lawyers without the jury, and no account of what was decided there had been published when this entry was written. NBC Boston, August 26, 1:21 p.m.; CT Insider, August 26, 1:29 p.m.
- THE ONLY LIVE ISSUE IS CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY. The defense stipulated on August 4 to the acts, so the closings and the charge are aimed at one question: whether, as a result of mental disease or defect, the defendant lacked substantial capacity either to appreciate the wrongfulness of what she did or to conform her conduct to the law. The Commonwealth has to disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt.