A woman accused of setting a fire that killed five people in Lynn, Mass., has been in prison for 10 years without ever being convicted, officials acknowledge.

Kathleen Hilton, now a 61-year-old grandmother, has been held at MCI-Framingham the past decade while attorneys wrangle over her case, The Boston Globe reported Friday.

Hilton was to have gone to trial last week but yet another delay has pushed it to Jan. 12, 2009, the newspaper said.

"It's a shame that it has taken so long," said Michael F. Natola, Hilton's attorney. "There's a tortured history of this case."

The Globe said legal scholars and other experts it contacted couldn't recall any cases in which someone found competent to stand trial had been confined to a cell for so long without being convicted. Prison and court officials couldn't say whether Hilton is the longest-serving unconvicted inmate in the state.

The newspaper said there are 576 unconvicted inmates in state Corrections Department custody.

"No constitutional rights have been violated, and if any further legal issues arise, we will address them in court," said Steve O'Connell, a spokesman for the Essex district attorney's office.

Hilton's case has been appealed on a number of issues, causing the lengthy trial delays.

Natola said "the right to a speedy trial had to take a back seat to the more important right of having a fair trial."