Simon Carswell
in Medford, Massachusetts
The lawyer acting for the Irish nanny Aisling McCarthy Brady accused of assaulting a one-year-old baby in her care in a Boston suburb has claimed prosecutors used US immigration enforcers to keep her client in jail.
Prosecutors said in new court filings that a criminal homicide investigation is still ongoing into the 34-year-old nanny over her alleged assault and battery of Rehma Samir while the child was in her care in January. The prosecution said that they still “fully and firmly” expect to upgrade the charges to murder.
They claim that the nanny caused head injuries to the child on January 14th at an apartment on Ash Street in Quincy, a suburb of Boston, causing head injuries that led to the death of the child two days later. Ms McCarthy Brady, who has been living illegally in the United States since 2002, vehemently denies the charges.
The nanny's defence lawyer Melinda Thompson yesterday sought but was refused a hearing to have her client's bail reduced.
Appearing at Middlesex County District Court, Ms Thompson said that prosecutors contacted US Immmigration and Customs Enforcement after bail was set at $5,000 following her arrest in January and had her detained in police custody for 48 hours.
Prosecutors used this time to ask a judge the following day to set bail at $1 million, she said. The judge subsequently set bail at $500,000, a sum the Co Cavan nanny has been unable to pay.
The court adjourned a hearing of circumstantial evidence, known as a probable cause hearing showing that the matter is ready for trial, until April 22nd.
