Just as Judge Sullivan was preparing to formally announce the mistrial, Clancy’s lead attorney, Kevin Reddington, made an unexpected request: he asked for time to file an emergency motion with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), the state’s highest court.
Judge Sullivan agreed to pause the proceedings and gave Reddington one hour to submit the emergency request and seek a stay—a temporary order that would prevent the mistrial from taking effect while the SJC considered the defense’s arguments.
The defense team, including appellate attorney Dana Goldblatt, filed the motion electronically with the SJC just before the one-hour deadline. The filing asked a single SJC justice to intervene and either:
- Order Judge Sullivan to inquire into whether a specific holdout juror was able and willing to follow the law on criminal responsibility and reasonable doubt; or
- Prohibit further deliberations with that juror unless and until the court conducted an individual questioning (voir dire) to determine that the juror could follow the judge’s instructions.
