Boston police officer Nicholas O’Malley was back in Suffolk Superior Court Thursday for a pre-trial hearing in which the prosecution moved to have the body camera footage impounded.
The six-year veteran of the department is facing a manslaughter charge, after being accused of shooting and killing Stephenson King, a 39-year-old man who was considered the suspect in a carjacking in Roxbury back in March.
O’Malley pleaded not guilty to the grand jury’s indictment, with his attorney stating that he was acting in self-defense after they say the suspect backed into a police cruiser.
Though, prosecutors said the shooting was excessive, and that the 34-year-old officer was not acting in reasonable defense of himself or his fellow officer.
In court Thursday, state prosecutor, Ian Polumbaum put forth a motion for a protective order.
“There was a previous protective order that isn’t effected by today. Today has to do with the body camera footage,” Polumbaum told the court.
Both parties agreed to the motion, with the judge providing further clarification as to why the footage will not be released publicly.
“We have to protect certain pieces of evidence so that they’re not so widely distributed before trial that to makes it difficult for the defendant to have a fair trial and so we don’t want a bunch of people having been exposed to all sorts of important evidence that would then mean they can’t serve as jurors,” the judge explained. “In Suffolk County, we have a limited number of people who can serve as jurors and so we can’t be depleting that jury pool by distributing evidence well before trial so that’s the reason for the protective order. When relevant, both sides will have a chance to bring that forward and make that part of the trial record and the public record at that time.”
O’Malley’s defense attorney, David Yannetti said the prosecution moved to have the footage impounded until it becomes relevant in the proceedings, which he agreed to.
“It’s not that we don’t want it out into the public, we do want it out in the public, but we want it in full context,” Yannetti said. “Nicholas O’Malley is hungry for justice at this point as are we and we are fully confident he will be exonerated.”
O’Malley is next back in court on Sept. 10 for discovery motions, and again on Dec. 8 for a mid-point pretrial hearing.
A final pre-trial hearing will be set at a later date with a presumptive jury trial date set for May 5, 2027.
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