Commonwealth v. Clancy, August 31, 2026
The jury is expected back at nine o'clock for a third day of deliberating, the judge having sent it home on Friday afternoon with more than ten hours behind it and no verdict on any of the three counts. Nothing has yet been reported from the sitting.
Key points
- THE JURY IS EXPECTED BACK AT NINE O'CLOCK ON MONDAY MORNING. Judge Sullivan brought the twelve into the courtroom shortly before four on Friday afternoon, sent them home for the weekend and told them the deliberations would pick up again at nine. The Boston Globe, Fox News and ABC News all carry the dismissal and the Monday hour. Boston Globe, August 28, 3:55 and 4:00 p.m.; ABC News, 3:58 p.m.; Fox News, 4:02 p.m.
- NOTHING HAS YET BEEN REPORTED FROM THE MONDAY SITTING. This entry was written on Friday afternoon, after the jurors had gone, and everything in it is an expectation drawn from what was said on Friday. It will be replaced by an account of the day as the day is covered.
- THE JURY GOES INTO A THIRD DAY WITH MORE THAN TEN HOURS BEHIND IT. The twelve first retired at about twenty-five minutes to one on Thursday, August 27, sat for part of that afternoon and through Friday, and were excused twice without a verdict on any of the three counts. The Boston Globe puts the two days at more than ten hours in all, about seven of them on Friday and three and a half on Thursday. Boston Globe, August 28, 4:01 p.m.
- 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.
- THE MEDICATION BOTTLES AND THE KNIFE ARE IN THE JURY ROOM, AND THE JURY'S QUESTION HAS NEVER BEEN MADE PUBLIC. On Kevin Reddington's account to the Boston Globe, the jurors asked on Friday morning for the prescription bottles and the knife she used on herself, exhibits that had not gone back with the others, and both were sent in. Judge Sullivan took the question up with counsel at a sidebar and ended it without telling the courtroom what had been asked, which the Globe describes as highly unusual. Boston Globe, August 28, 10:29 and 10:56 a.m.
- THE SIX ALTERNATES HAVE NOT BEEN DISCHARGED. Three men and three women, drawn from the eighteen-member panel seated in July, they are being held nearby and apart from the deliberating twelve, because one of them would have to take the seat of any juror who could not carry on. Boston Globe, August 28.
- 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. Boston Globe, August 27.
- COUNSEL WOULD NOT PREDICT HOW LONG THE JURY WILL TAKE, AND SAYS HE IS NEVER CONFIDENT. Leaving the courthouse on Friday afternoon once the jurors had gone, Kevin Reddington told the Boston Globe he is never confident about a verdict, because there is no telling what a jury will do, and told CBS Boston the twelve could be back within the hour or still out a week from now. Asked by Fox News the evening before how long the deliberations would run, he had pointed to the amount of evidence, the length of the trial and the number of exhibits, and said he could not rule out everyone still being at the courthouse on Monday. The last word before the weekend is Fox News's, filing on Friday evening: on that account he again would not say how long the twelve would need and had no idea what they would do, and he added that they had worked hard, that it had been a long trial and that he has faith in the jury system. All of those remarks were made to reporters outside the courtroom, not in it. Boston Globe, August 28, 4:33 p.m.; CBS Boston, August 28; Fox News, August 27; Fox News, August 28, 5:16 p.m.