A driver who fell asleep and fell out of his vehicle while police were trying to administer a breathalyzer test during a call in Webster, Massachusetts, last week has been charged with OUI.
Webster police say the situation began when they rece…
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Mass. woman accused of scamming elderly residents in NH
A North Andover, Massachusetts, woman is accused of trying to steal thousands of dollars from elderly residents in New Hampshire as part of a tech support scam.
Rachel Chen, 25, is facing charges in three New Hampshire counties, the attorney g…
Search for missing person underway in Falmouth
Multiple agencies are searching for a missing person in Falmouth, Massachusetts, on Monday.
Falmouth police said their department, along with Massachusetts State Police and other agencies are working in the area of 330 Old Barnstable Road.
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What is a Tuey-Rodriguez charge? How Judge Cannone is trying to push trial forward
The jury in the Karen Read murder case continues to struggle to reach a consensus, writing in a note to Judge Beverly Cannone Monday morning that they are “deeply divided by fundamental differences in our opinions and state of mind.”
Judge Cannone said she had never seen a note like the one she received Monday, and it prompted her to read a set of instructions to the jurors known as the Tuey-Rodriguez charge.
These special instructions are read by a judge at their discretion, when a jury remains in a state of deadlock. The text read by the judge essentially sends jurors back to deliberation with a series of reminders — namely that it is their “duty to decide this case if you can do so conscientiously,” and that there is no reason to believe another set of jurors would be more competent to decide a case.
Footnotes included in the instruction provide some direction as to when they should be read to a jury that cannot decide a verdict. The note states that, “it is appropriate for the judge to give such a charge when a jury is deadlocked, but because it ‘has a certain ‘sting’ to it,’ it should not be given prematurely, and digression from the recommended language is discouraged.”
Judge Cannone read the full text of the charge to the jurors, and sent them back to the deliberation table.
You can read a 2009 copy of the instructions here. The version that Judge Cannone read Monday morning had slight variations to it to make it applicable to the case at hand.
Read the deadlocked Karen Read jury’s note that impressed Judge Cannone
Deal between Steward Health Care and Optum is off
The sale of Steward Health Care‘s physician network to for-profit insurer Optum is off, state officials confirmed Friday, underscoring the uncertainty swirling around the bankrupt hospital system and the future of its hospitals and providers in Massachusetts.
Optum informed the Health Policy Commission that it is no longer working to finalize an agreement with Steward around the sale of Stewardship Health to Optum Care, but the companies have not yet withdrawn the deal’s material change notice filings with the HPC, the agency said.
The potential sale was first announced in March, but the two large medical providers never submitted information necessary for the HPC to begin a review that would have been required for the sale to go through. A slew of state and federal lawmakers raised concerns about the potential sale. House Speaker Ronald Mariano said in March that the sale “has the potential to significantly impact the competitiveness of the health care market in Massachusetts, and cause further disruption during a period of acute instability in the health care system.”
Spokespeople for Optum did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The DOJ regulatory review process was challenging; Steward and United Optum have decided not to move forward,” Steward said in a Friday afternoon statement. “Stewardship Health remains a valuable asset that provides excellent care for its patients; there are multiple other parties that remain interested in acquiring the business and Steward is in active negotiations.”
The sale of Stewardship Health is a key part of Steward’s bankruptcy restructuring, a process that is still playing out with bids due for Massachusetts hospitals next month. One investment banker working on Steward’s behalf told the U.S. Bankruptcy Court that the sale of Stewardship was the company’s “attempt to deleverage and secure liquidity for use in their operations.”
