DEDHAM, Mass. — Boston 25 Investigative reporter Ted Daniel speaks with attorney and legal analyst Peter Tragos, @Lawyeryouknow, about former State Trooper Michael Proctor withdrawing his appeal to get his job back with the Massachusetts State Police after the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office found substantial data on his personal phone, dating back 13 years.
Q: Ted Daniel: This phone data is not coming from federal investigators, like in the Karen Read case. It’s a new download of Proctor’s phone that was ordered in state court…
A: Peter Tragos: Right, not one judge, but two judges have seen fit to order this download, with the second judge actually expanding what was going to be appropriately taken from Proctor’s phone and considered here. Now the prosecutors are looking through what’s discoverable, what’s exculpatory, as they continue to work through it. Proctor, and his defense attorney, made representations that there wouldn’t be much there because he got a new phone, and it was on auto-delete every 30 days. Yet, in the state’s notice, they said that it is a huge data dump—hundreds of thousands of documents or pictures or text messages or whatever it is they’re categorizing there—dating back to 2013. This kind of new information that contradicts previous statements can drastically change the way a lawyer looks at a case, or in this instance, why a client might drop an appeal.
Q: Ted Daniel: Has the Norfolk DA’s office started turning over the new information to defense attorneys?
A: Peter Tragos: Yes. They’re turning at least some of that over to the defense as they continue to work through it. It seems like they have already found information they believe to be discoverable that they’ve sent over to Myles King’s defense team. It doesn’t seem like they have found anything yet that they’re going to send to Brian Walsh’s team, but it seems like there are additional cases above and beyond the King and the Walsh case where they are finding information that they feel is discoverable.
Q: Ted Daniel: If more damaging information comes out from Michael Proctor’s phone, do you expect it will likely come through one of the cases that he worked that’s still awaiting trial?
A: Peter Tragos: That would be my guess, right? That’s the most logical way for these texts to come out in the public record—during a trial, during a filing that Michael Proctor said X, Y, and Z and we plan to attack the investigation for these reasons. Defense attorneys can continue to use that against everything Michael Proctor has touched from now until, it sounds like, at least 2013.
Q: Ted Daniel: Could this new information impact cases that have already gone through the court system and people who may be in prison?
A: Peter Tragos: It’s possible. It’s very difficult to get cases like that reopened, especially if certain deadlines have passed. But new information like this is absolutely possible that something could be found in his phone that somebody that’s sitting in prison right now would take issue with and at least try to reopen their case, to reopen their appeal and try to fight for justice. Every piece of fruit that came from the Proctor tree from 2013 could absolutely be filled with poison based on what we already know and what the reports are coming out about these text messages. It doesn’t mean that all these people will walk free... but it does mean that there are major issues for the prosecutor to work with now and everything Proctor has ever touched.
Q: Ted Daniel: Could others be implicated?
A: Peter Tragos: I really think the only thing that we’re really waiting to see is how bad are these text messages and who else is involved. That’s something I’m really interested in is what other officers were on these text chains. Are they supervisors? Are they decision makers? Did they ratify it? Is this not just one poisonous tree, but are there multiple poisonous trees that will extend from here? Will we have more cell phone downloads? Will we have more extractions based on other text message conversations or group chats that Michael Proctor was involved in?
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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