Power found guilty of manslaughter
Published on February 8th, 2006
CAMBRIDGE, MA - After 12 hours of deliberation the jury found Ann Power guilty of the lesser charge of Involuntary Manslaughter by Wanton and Reckless Actions in the 2003 death of three month old MacKenzie Rose Corrigan.
After the verdict was delivered shortly before 3 p.m. yesterday, Cambridge Superior Court Judge Peter Lauriat allowed Power to go free on $100,000 cash or $1 million in surety pending sentencing in the case on February 27. The 57 year old mother of five and grandmother must remain n her home and has been fitted with an ankle bracelet.
As the jury of seven women and five men filed into the courtroom, none of them would make eye contact with Power, who was looking in their direction. After the verdict Power sagged a little against her lawyer, J. W. Carney of the Boston law firm Carney and Billis.
Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Nathaniel Yeager, who prosecuted the case with Special Assistant District Attorney Steven Hoffman, immediately asked that the $10,000 bail Power was free on since her 2003 arraignment be rescinded and she be held in jail pending sentencing.
Carney said, “This verdict, as your honor knows, raises a number of issues in this case.”
He asked that his client be allowed to remain on the $10,000 bail with the use of the ankle bracelet to restrict her movement.
Carney noted that Power has been facing a possible sentence of life without parole if she had been found guilty of Murder in the First Degree as the prosecution had sought. He reminded the judge that the defendant had showed up in court every day.
As further proof that his client was not a flight risk, Carney said, “We intend to file a motion for reconsideration of our request for a directed verdict of not guilty.”
According to Carney, the prosecution was aiming for a first degree murder conviction in the case they presented to the jury. Because of this, no evidence was presented to substantiate the lesser finding of Involuntary Manslaughter.
In a press conference after the verdict, Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley said that the lesser charge of Involuntary Manslaughter is always an included charge in any murder case.
In his instructions to the jury, Judge Lauriat said the charge against Power was murder and it was up to the jury, if they found the defendant guilty, to decide between first degree, second degree, involuntary manslaughter with extreme atrocity or involuntary manslaughter by wanton and reckless actions.
In a press conference, Carney said, “We are very, very pleased the jury concluded that Ann Power did not shake the baby.”
He added, “We will file a motion this week to set aside this verdict.”
In a prepared statement, read by Coakley, John and Kathy Corrigan stated, “As a family we have accepted the fact that MacKenzie is gone, she is never coming back, and that her brothers will grow up never knowing their sister. Today’s verdict answers the previously unanswered question of responsibility.
“We do find some comfort in in finally knowing that someone is accountable for Mackenzie’s death and that her short life had meaning. However, the reason for Mackenzie’s murder continues to haunt us each day.
“Only one individual is capable of answering this question and thus far, she has been unwilling to do so.”
In her statement to the press, Coakley said, “Although their is some satisfaction on holding (An Power) responsible for the murder of Mackenzie Rose Corrigan, there is no pleasure.”
Coakley noted that cases of child abuse are preventable. however, they continue to happen.
“The verdict, we believe, was sound,” Coakley said.
She noted that the judge would not have sent the case to the jury if he was not satisfied that the evidence had been presented for a fair decision to be made.
The motion for a directed verdict of innocent will be heard on February 15. Sentencing is scheduled for February 27 and Power will also face sentencing at that time for the charge of running an illegal day care center, too which she had previously pled guilty.
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