Emily Thorndike

Emily Thorndike testified outside the jury's presence on Day 16 about weekend and holiday practices she knew from working at McLean Hospital. Defense counsel Kevin Reddington sought to use her testimony to corroborate Patrick Clancy's account and rebut what counsel described as an impression that Lindsay Clancy had declined readily available treatment. The Commonwealth opposed adding her as a late-disclosed witness, raising discovery concerns, her exposure to trial testimony, and her lack of firsthand knowledge of Clancy's hospitalization.

During defense questioning, Thorndike described brief weekend doctor contacts, coloring and clay activities, and limited family communication without the regular treatment team. She believed staffing ratios and groups appeared unchanged in records she reviewed, but qualified that assessment. Under questioning by Shanan Buckingham, she acknowledged that she had not reviewed Clancy's individual treatment contacts, could not describe the particular conversations, and lacked information about actual patient numbers and passes during the relevant holiday period. Her employment had ended in December 2021, about a year before Clancy's stay.

Judge William Sullivan expressly found Thorndike credible and found no bad faith and limited prejudice from the late disclosure. He nevertheless excluded her proposed jury testimony because it had limited materiality, emphasizing the employment gap and the availability of hospital records. He permitted the defense to submit staffing and program records for comparison, but those records were not admitted during the hearing.