UPDATE: At Friday’s hearing Judge S. Jane Haggerty said she would take McCarthy’s request for $5,000 bail under advisement.
Melinda Thompson, McCarthy’s defense attorney, said circumstances in the case have changed due to lack of access to evidence in the case and a new medial report that cast doubt on the guilt of her client.
The prosecution, led by Patrick Fitzgerald, argued that McCarthy is an extreme flight risk and would be deported if released on bail.
The next trial status hearing will take place on Feb 21, at 2pm. The trial is set to begin on Apr 7.
A full report to follow.
---------
Aisling McCarthy Brady’s bail hearing in the case of the murder of Boston one-year-old Rehma Sabir was heard by Middlesex Superior Court Judge S. Jane Haggerty.
It is unlikely that McCarthy will be permitted to return to her home in Quincy, MA until the trial ends and a not guilty verdict given due to her undocumented status. She has been living and working in the United States without a visa since 2002.
A detainer form has been lodged by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) which means that if released on bail she will find herself back in the custody of the immigration authorities.
The enforcement agency is mandated to detain those who overstay their visa and there is no appeal process. ICE detentions and removals are an “administrative” process. ICE rarely releases detainees because they are considered a flight risk.
A state court judge has no jurisdiction over ICE. If McCarthy Brady is held by ICE, the state court will have to issue an order to ICE for her to appear in court. It is very unlikely that ICE will deport her before the murder case is resolved, although this often happens with minor offenses.
Aisling Brady McCarthy, a native of County Cavan, has spent more than a year in a Massachusetts jail awaiting trial for the murder of a one-year-old child in her care.
Brady McCarthy is accused of having “violently assaulted” Rehma Sabir on January 14, 2013 at her family home in Cambridge, MA causing the infant’s death.
In a pre-trial hearing on Feb 6, McCarthy’s lawyer David Meier entered a report into evidence. This report came from the prosecutor’s own hired medical forensic experts in Florida and Boston. It determined that compression fractures found on the one-year-old could not have been inflicted by the nanny. At the time the baby sustained the injuries she was overseas with her parents.
Meier explained to the court that these injuries initially formed the basis of the grand jury indictment against the Irish woman by last year.
Based on these “significant and substantial changed circumstances” Meier requested a bail hearing for the defendant, which Middlesex Superior Court Judge S. Jane Haggerty set for Friday, February 14.
With a bail hearing pending for McCarthy here are some of the facts of this murder case.
On January 14, 2013, Rehma Sabir’s first birthday, the infant was rushed to the Boston Children’s Hospital after failing to be wake from her sleep. The child was examined and it was determined that she was suffering from massive brain swelling. According to the prosecution her injuries were so severe it “rendered emergent neurosurgical intervention futile.” The one-year-old was declared brain dead two days later on January 16.
After Rehma was admitted to the hospital further examinations and a skeletal survey revealed the compression fractures. The Medical Director of Children’s Hospital Child Protection, Dr. Alice Newton, concluded that Rehma’s head injuries were consistent with violent shaking or an impact to her head either directly with an object or indirectly with a surface or other object. She added that the compression fractures were consistent with non-accidental trauma and advised that such fractures were consistent ‘with a violent shaking or a violent slamming of Rehma’s buttocks on a hard surface.’
Dr. Katherine Lindstrom, the Commonwealth’s Forensic pathologist, ruled the infant’s death was caused by complications of blunt force injuries acquired on January 14, 2013.
Evidence gathered in the apartment included a missing piece of drywall/plaster behind Rehma’s changing table that corresponded with remnants on the floor directly belowthe changing table. Such damage is consistent with being caused by forceful contact with the corner of Rehma’s changing table.
Also discovered during the investigation were baby wipes with blood on them. This blood was found on paper towels disposed in the garbage, on Rehma’s pillowcase and blanket and on the ‘onesie’ Rehma wore that day.
Brady McCarthy denied any accidental or other trauma to Rehma, but confirmed that on January 14, she had sole care of the infant from 9.30am until when her mother arrived home at 4.30pm.
Days after the incident, former Middlesex County D.A. Gerry Leone ordered her arrest and a grand jury indicted the Irish woman for the murder of the one-year-old girl as well as assault and battery causing bodily harm.
Ever since her arrest Brady McCarthy has maintained her innocence. Just before Christmas the Judge dismissed the assault and battery charge due to lack of evidence.
Throughout the pre-trial hearing the defense pleaded with the Judge to order prosecutors to hand over all the evidence in this case. They have consistently failed to have done so.
Recently the Sabir family have retained the services of their own defense lawyer, Elliot Weinstein, despite not being charged with anything.
Comments