Dramatic scenes as Boston Irish nanny granted $15,000 bail
Casey Egan
Aisling Brady McCarthy's lawyers file hard-hitting challenge from medical specialist over baby Sabir's death.AP
Ruling in the case of the Boston Irish nanny accused of killing a one year old girl in her care, Judge Maureen Hogan has granted bail after stating that significant new evidence has emerged in the case.
McCarthy's bail hearing took place today at the Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn, near Boston. There were dramatic scenes with family and freinds in tears and embracing when the decision was announced.
Judge Hogan granted $15,000 bail – an unusually low sum and one the defense had argued for. She will sign a waiver of extradition, turn in her passport and will be confined at home with a GPS.
Hogan: "I find that bail in the amount of $15,000 and home confinement with GPS ... will reasonably" assure that she will show up.
— Bob McGovern (@BobMcGovernJr) May 5, 2015
According to Bob McGovern reporting for the Boston Herald, Hogan noted the new medical evidence that Rhema Sabit's "vertebrae fractures were determined to have occurred weeks before her death - a period when she wasn't in McCarthy's care."
McCarthy has been held in police custody since being arrested on January 21, 2013.
Upon hearing the news, McCarthy, her family and supporters were in tears.
Irish nanny Aisling Brady McCarthy sobs in court on bail being granted after nearly 2 1/2 years in jail, must sign a waiver of extradition
— Simon Carswell (@SiCarswell) May 5, 2015
During the bail hearing, the prosecution claimed that the Irish government would aid in smuggling McCarthy home if she was granted bail.
According to Simon Carswell, reporting for the Irish Times, the prosecutor Joe Gentile argued that if even if McCarthy turned in her passport per the conditions of the bail, she would still be able to get a new passport from the Irish Consulate in Boston.
He noted that the consulate has inquired about her status in the past, and added that McCarthy has "great support" in Ireland.
"In arguing for bail to be refused, he questioned how Ms McCarthy was able to receive a new passport in 2010 when she was in breach of the 90-day US visa waiver when she first entered the country," the Irish Times reports.
Gentile described the risk that McCarthy would flee to Ireland as "substantial," given that McCarthy faces the possibility of life in prison without parole if convicted.
He also noted that extradition from Ireland to the US is "extremely difficult."
McCarthy's defense attorney Melinda Thompson called these claims "absolutely ludicrous."
"Nobody is trying to get Ms McCarthy out of the country; Ms McCarthy is not trying to get out of the country. Nobody is trying to sneak her out," she said.
The first degree murder trial is likely to begin in July, depending on the availability of witnesses.
Related: Boston, Crime