In Clancy courtroom, controversy erupts over a hot-mic comment. But was it ‘shut her up’ or ‘shut it off’?
Clancy has admitted to strangling her three children, 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson, and 8-month-old Callan, with exercise bands in her Duxbury home on Jan. 24, 2023, but has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder. The defense says Clancy suffered from postpartum psychosis and lacked criminal responsibility, mounting what is known as an insanity defense.
Reddington’s accusation about the hot-mic comment came in open court, without the jury present, as Judge William F. Sullivan attempted to have McLean Hospital psychiatrist Dr. Alia Goodheart retake the stand for cross-examination during Friday’s morning session.
Reddington quickly interrupted, asking to “raise an issue,” with Sullivan.
“Why don’t we go to the sidebar?” Sullivan asked, motioning to the side and standing up.
“No, I don’t want to go to the sidebar,” Reddington replied.
Sullivan also objected, saying more forcefully that he needed to know what Reddington was going to talk about.
Reddington then pressed ahead, stating that the prosecutors “got picked up on a hot mic saying ‘Shut her up,’ during the playing of that autopsy.”
During Thursday’s session, Clancy could be heard sobbing loudly at the conclusion of testimony by Dr. Kimberly Springer, the state medical examiner who conducted the autopsy on 8-month-old Callan Clancy. Springer described his fatal injuries in detail while jurors saw photos from the autopsy.
Following Reddington’s accusation about the hot-mic comment, prosecutor Jennifer Sprague appeared to turn to Shanan Buckingham, the other member of the Plymouth district attorney’s team, in confusion and mouth the word “what?”
Beth Stone, spokesperson for Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz, said in an email to the Globe that the alleged comment was misheard and that it also didn’t come from their prosecutors.
“We pulled the video,” Stone wrote. “The camera pans away and someone in the courtroom says ‘shut it off,’ meaning to take down the autopsy photos from the large screen.”
It is unclear how or when Reddington became aware of the incident.
“This is not like ‘[The] Handmaid’s Tale’ where you’re going to tape her mouth shut,” he said, referring to the dystopian Hulu series which featured a female character with her mouth sown shut in its third season.
“I’m not doing that at all,” Sullivan responded. “There’s a lot of privileged issues,” the judge added before attorneys for both sides entered a sidebar and the court feed was cut.
Later Friday, just before a recess around 1 p.m., Sullivan offered a stern warning to courtroom spectators after the jury again exited the room.
“I just want to make it real clear that there is to be no inappropriate comments or disruptive comments to be made inside this courtroom,” he said. “If anybody is found to make those, they will be immediately escorted out and barred for the balance of this.
He reiterated that the courtroom is outfitted with “microphones all around,” and said “if I get a report of that there’s going to be some serious issues.”
There would be no warnings or “yellow cards,” he added.
”You’re out” if you flout the directive, Sullivan said.
Bryan Hecht can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Instagram @bhechtjournalism. Shelley Murphy can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @shelleymurph. Travis Andersen can be reached at [email protected].
