5.Melissa Arcadipane — Direct
81 linesMS. BUCKINGHAM: Your Honor, the Commonwealth would call Melissa Arcadipane.
THE COURT: Hi, good afternoon. Attorney Buckingham, please.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Thank you. Good afternoon. Could you please tell the jurors your first and last name?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: Melissa Arcadipane.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Can you spell your last name for the record?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: A-R-C-A-D-I-P-A-N-E.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And did you work for South Shore Hospital?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: Yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And what was your role at South Shore Hospital?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: My last role was a supervisor of the specimen processing department in the laboratory.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And do you still work in that role?
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Okay. Back in 2023, specifically January, were you in that role?
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And how long had you worked for, or have you worked for South Shore Hospital over the course of the years?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: Over 20 years.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: You said that you were the specimen processing supervisor?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: Correct.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: What are the general responsibilities for that role?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: Overseeing the department where all of the specimens from within the hospital and even outside of the hospital will come in through that department to be received, checked, make sure they have orders, make sure they're collected in the correct tube.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And the laboratory at South Shore Hospital is responsible for processing blood samples, urine samples that come from other areas of the hospital, correct?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: Correct.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: So can you just generally tell us how a blood or urine sample would come from the emergency department at South Shore Hospital to the laboratory?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: So in most cases, blood sample or urine will come through a pneumatic tube system from the emergency room. They'll put it in a tube, hit a button, and it will come over to the lab, which was across the street, and we would take it out of that canister and process it at that point.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And the specimens that are collected in a place like the emergency department are done by a nurse or technician who takes the samples, puts them in the appropriate vial or tube, and labels them. Correct?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: Correct.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And so when they come to you through that pneumatic system, what does your laboratory do with the samples?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: Well, we check the sample, make sure it's labeled, make sure it's in the correct tube, and then we would process it.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And traditionally, would your laboratory receive several samples, meaning several vials of blood or urine, from one patient?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: They could, yes.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And as far as the orders for testing, you at the laboratory would only run particular tests that are ordered by a physician, correct?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: Correct.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Does that usually consume the whole sample that you receive from the emergency department?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: Not always, no.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And so would it be a common procedure that samples from a particular patient would be retained in case additional testing needed to be done?
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And working in the lab as the specimen processing supervisor, are you familiar with what is referred to as a preservation notice?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: I am.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: What do you know that to be?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: So that is a notice that we would receive from a law enforcement agency asking us to hold specific samples for a particular patient.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And what would your laboratory do when you receive a preservation notice for a particular patient?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: So the samples would be pulled aside. They would be put in a specimen bag. A copy of that preservation notice gets put in the bag with the samples, and it is put in a separate bin within the specimen refrigerator.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And the specimen refrigerator, is that a place that specimens are stored until they're either used or discarded?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: Correct.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And does that preserve the specimen? Meaning, would-
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: Well, they need to be refrigerated, so, but we separate those specimens that potentially could be needed elsewhere into a separate spot so that they don't get discarded.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Now, were you aware that a preservation notice had been served on South Shore Hospital for the blood and urine of Lindsay Clancy on January 24th, 2023?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: I was.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And were those samples of blood and urine collected in the same manner you just described and then, and put in a separate bin?
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And on January 31st, 2023, did you have the opportunity to interact with a trooper from the Massachusetts State Police?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: I did.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And what was that interaction? Can you describe it to us?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: He came with a warrant to collect the specimens.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And so did you collect the specimens that were labeled for Lindsay Clancy?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: I did. Somebody had already put them in that bin in a bag, so I just went to the bin, retrieved them, made sure they were hers, and gave them to the officer.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: And in fact, you handed over six vials of blood and one vial of urine to the trooper on that day, correct?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: I don't remember the exact samples or sample type that I handed over, but I do know that I gave him samples.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Okay. And as far as your memory, you recall that you double-checked the ID label on the items to make sure that they belonged to Lindsay Clancy, correct?
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: Definitely.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Okay. Nothing further. Thank you.
THE COURT: All right. Counsel?
MR. REDDINGTON: No questions. Thank you.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you.
MELISSA ARCADIPANE: Thank you.
THE COURT: Thank you.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Your Honor, at this time the Commonwealth would move to submit the certified medical records from Beth Israel Deaconess in Plymouth for Cora Clancy, Dawson Clancy, and Callan Clancy in one binder.
MR. REDDINGTON: No objection.
THE COURT: All right. They may be admitted.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: You could approach sidebar?
THE COURT: Yes.
THE COURT: Jury, in talking to counsel, we are gonna break for today. All right? What I was talking about over here is in regards to the schedule, where we are. We are, if not on schedule, at a schedule. All right? And much of it is because of the work when you're not here, counsel's going over some of the exhibits and some of that, and that's part of some of these breaks, at least for you. All right? So I just kinda wanted to let you know, that's what's going on. So we're gonna... I'm gonna excuse you. I know it's been a long week, anyway. So we're gonna take a break till Monday. All right? And on Monday, the schedule anticipation, we'll start about 9:00, maybe a little bit later than that. But I'd ask you to be here ready to go at 9:00. There's some matters I may have to talk to counsel, so it might give a little bit late start for you on Monday. And then the anticipations will go most of the day. All right? Like I said, we are well on schedule, if not ahead.
What I wanna remind you now, which you know I'm going to remind you, that you're gonna be not here for a couple of days. It's very important. You've heard some of the evidence. You haven't heard all of the evidence. All right? You've heard... You haven't heard the law that you will apply to this. So you have to keep an open mind. And the best way to do that is don't talk about this with anyone, don't do any research, don't watch anything. If something comes on, turn it off. And just like I said, if you're talking to somebody, brings up, blame me. All right? 'The judge said I am not to talk about it. I'm not to listen to anybody talking about this.' And shut 'em down right away. I appreciate all the work that you've put in here so far. I look forward to seeing you on Monday. I hope you have a nice weekend and we'll see you then. All right. Thank you.
BAILIFF: Court, all rise. Jurors, would you close your notebooks? Please place them on the chairs. All rise.
BAILIFF: Jurors have exited the courtroom. This court is in session. Please be seated.
THE COURT: All right. Anything else we need to address before Monday morning? Counsel?
MS. BUCKINGHAM: No, Your Honor.
MR. REDDINGTON: No, thank you.
THE COURT: All right. So we'll be in recess on this matter until Monday morning at 9:00. We'll resume the trial. Thank you.
MS. BUCKINGHAM: Thank you.
BAILIFF: Court, all rise.
BAILIFF: Court's in recess. Please exit the court. Thank you.