Nearly four years after the shroud of the coronavirus fell upon Holyoke and the then-Soldiers’ Home, its final legal drama has apparently concluded. The only two people to face criminal charges from the outbreak changed their pleas, essentially throwing themselves upon the mercy of the court. A judge obliged.
In a 5-2 ruling, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court reinstated criminal charges arising from the COVID-19 outbreak that killed 76 veterans at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home. Former Superintendent Bennett Walsh and former medical director David Clinton were the only officials to face such charges. Hampden County Superior Court Judge Edward McDonough, Jr. dismissed the indictment in 2021 prompting the appeal.
BOSTON—On the eve of Governor Charlie Baker’s last day as governor—and Attorney General Maura Healey’s first—the Supreme Judicial Court considered an appeal in the waning litigation from the COVID-19 outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home. The indictments reflect one of the Baker administration’s darkest hours.
The legal drama around the criminal indictments arising from the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home COVID-19 outbreak has flown under the radar since the appeal began. The case, however, jolted a bit in public view again as Healey’s office sought direct review from the Supreme Judicial Court.
The commonwealth’s case against two administrators at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home is not over, yet. On Tuesday, Attorney General Maura Healey’s office announced that she would appeal a pre-Thanksgiving ruling that dismissed charges against former Bennett Walsh and Dr. David Clinton.
The saga at the Holyoke Soldier’s Home took another sharp turn Monday after the indictment against the facility’s former superintendent and medical director disintegrated. Hampden County Superior Court Judge Edward McDonough, Jr. granted former Soldiers’ Home super Bennett Walsh and Dr. David Clinton’s motions to dismiss the indictments against them.
Six Flags New England may be closed, but former(ish) Holyoke Soldiers Home Superintendent Bennett Walsh has had a roller coaster of a week. On Monday, a Hampden County Superior Court judge reversed Governor Charlie Baker’s termination of Walsh. His Excellency and his health secretary had