Small Business Solutions

Karen Read’s prosecution informed the court Friday that it has copies of phone and cloud data from suspended Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, whose testimony and embarrassing text messages played a big role in the high-profile trial. Prosecutors argued Friday against releasing all of Proctor’s data to Read’s defense but said they were still developing a process for reviewing and categorizing the data. Read, 44, of Mansfield, is accused of hitting her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with her SUV outside a Canton home on Jan. 29, 2022, and leaving him to die in a snowstorm following a night of drinking at two bars. Her first trial on three charges began in April and ended in a mistrial on July 1.During the trial, Trooper Michael Proctor was questioned about messages he shared with a group of friends. After reading one of the messages, in which he called Read a “whack job” and an expletive, he apologized to the jury for his “unprofessional” comments. Video below: Proctor testifies about text messages in Read caseProctor described his messages as “very regrettable.”As the prosecution notes, the defense argued that Proctor’s testimony and evidence showed a bias in the investigation. Within hours of Read’s mistrial, Proctor was relieved from duty and transferred out of the detective unit of the Norfolk County District Attorneys Office. He was later suspended.Video below: Proctor cross-examined during Read’s first trialAccording to the prosecution’s filing, Massachusetts State Police provided a copy of the data from Proctor’s work phone to the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office on Aug. 29. Additionally, the department provided a copy of Proctor’s work cloud account on Sept. 4. “Releasing the entire extraction report outside of law enforcement is anticipated to jeopardize open investigations, compromise the privacy and safety of civilians, and thus be contrary to the interest of justice,” the prosecution wrote in Friday’s filing. In a footnote, the prosecution suggests the data could include criminal offender records, information about confidential informants, content about ongoing investigations and private data from grand jury proceedings. Finally, the prosecution appeared to leave the door open to impacts beyond the Read case. “The DA’s office said it is “in the process of ascertaining how to determine what if any information on Trooper Proctor’s work phone or cloud account is discoverable in this or other cases,” the prosecution wrote.