Commonwealth v. Clancy, August 28, 2026
Written ahead of the sitting. The case is with the jury, which sat a little over three hours on Thursday afternoon without reaching a verdict and is reported to resume on Friday morning at nine.
Key points
- THE JURY IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE DELIBERATING. The twelve retired at about twenty-five minutes to one on Thursday, August 27, after the closing arguments and Judge William Sullivan's charge, and were excused late in the afternoon with no verdict returned on any of the three counts. CBS Boston has them called back shortly after four, where the Boston Globe and Boston 25 both have them sent home shortly before half past. Boston Globe, August 27, 12:35 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.; NBC News, 4:09 p.m.; CBS Boston, 4:10 p.m.
- THE JURORS ARE REPORTED TO COME BACK AT NINE ON FRIDAY MORNING. CNN, ABC News and the Associated Press all give the hour; NBC News, CBS Boston and Fox News report only that the deliberations resume Friday morning. No account read for this index says how long the jurors are to sit or what the court would do if they had not agreed by the end of the week. CNN, August 27, 4:11 p.m.; ABC News, 4:34 p.m.; Associated Press.
- THE QUESTION IS CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY, AND THE BURDEN IS THE COMMONWEALTH'S. The defense stipulated on August 4 to the acts, so what the jury has to decide is 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, and whether the Commonwealth has disproved that beyond a reasonable doubt.
- THE JURY HAS THREE VERDICT SLIPS, ONE FOR EACH CHILD, WITH FIVE CHOICES ON EACH. Not guilty; not guilty by lack of criminal responsibility; guilty of murder in the first degree; guilty of murder in the second degree; guilty of manslaughter. Any verdict has to be unanimous. Boston Globe, August 27, 12:30 p.m.; CNN, 12:33 p.m.
- THE SIX ALTERNATES ARE STANDING BY AND ONE OF THEM COULD STILL DECIDE THE CASE. They were not sent home when the twelve went out. They are being held apart from the deliberating jurors but staying nearby, and the judge told them not to discuss the case, since an alternate would have to take the seat of any juror who could not carry on. Boston Globe, August 27, 12:58 p.m.
- NO WITNESSES ARE EXPECTED. Both sides rested and the evidence closed on Wednesday, August 26, so there is nothing further for the jury to hear.
- A VERDICT OF NO CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY WOULD NOT MEAN RELEASE. Judge Sullivan told the jurors in his charge that such a verdict would likely be followed by commitment to a state hospital for as long as a judge thought her a danger. On CNN's account of how that works, the court holds a hearing on whether she is mentally ill and on whether her release would risk serious harm; a first commitment runs six months and later ones a year, renewable without limit. She has been held at Tewksbury Hospital since 2023. CNN, August 27, 4:02 p.m.
- THE JURY HAS SAT ONE AFTERNOON SO FAR, AND THE ACCOUNTS OF ITS LENGTH DIFFER. CNN puts Thursday's deliberation at just over three hours and NBC News at almost three and a half. That is the whole of it so far, and nothing has been reported from the room in that time — no note and no question. CNN, August 27, 4:11 p.m.; NBC News, 4:09 p.m.
- NOTHING WAS LEFT PENDING FOR FRIDAY MORNING. Judge Sullivan asked both counsel, after the jurors had gone, whether there was anything to be taken up before Friday, and each said there was not. Boston Globe, August 27, 4:30 p.m.