Commonwealth v. Clancy, September 1, 2026
The jury is expected back Tuesday morning for a fourth day of deliberating, having been sent home Monday evening past seventeen hours in with no verdict on any of the three counts. Nothing has yet been reported from the sitting.
Key points
- THE JURY IS EXPECTED BACK TUESDAY MORNING FOR A FOURTH DAY. Judge Sullivan sent the twelve home Monday evening after they asked to be excused, telling them to "stay the course" and repeating his standing instruction not to discuss the case or take in outside coverage of it overnight. The Boston Globe reports the dismissal; CBS Boston separately reports the jury's request to leave and gives the return as about nine o'clock. Boston Globe, August 31, 3:46 and 3:51 p.m.; CBS Boston, August 31.
- NOTHING HAS YET BEEN REPORTED FROM THE TUESDAY SITTING. This entry was written on Monday afternoon, after the jurors had gone, and everything in it is an expectation drawn from what was said on Monday. It will be replaced by an account of the day as the day is covered.
- THE JURY GOES INTO A FOURTH DAY WITH ROUGHLY SEVENTEEN HOURS BEHIND IT. The twelve first retired at about twenty-five minutes to one on Thursday, August 27, and were excused three times without a verdict on any of the three counts. The Boston Globe put the total at past seventeen hours as the third day ended Monday evening. Boston Globe, August 31, 3:46 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 CRITICIZED THE TELEVISION COVERAGE OF THE CASE AND SAID HE WOULD ACCEPT WHATEVER THE JURY DECIDES. Outside the courthouse on Monday, Kevin Reddington criticized two Fox personalities' coverage of the case, said he was nervous with the jury out, as he typically is, and told Fox News that whatever the jury decides, "we accept, and that's it," adding that he had no idea how much longer deliberations would run. Those remarks were made to reporters outside the courtroom, not in it. Boston Globe, August 31, 9:50 a.m.; Fox News, August 31, 2:06 p.m.