The list of murder cases around the Boston area that could rely on the testimony of an embattled Massachusetts State Police trooper continues to grow.
And that poses a big question: Will Michael Proctor’s damaged credibility prevent prosecutors from proving their cases to a jury?
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On Thursday, the NBC10 Investigators obtained a letter that the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office sent out to some criminal defense attorneys who represent clients in other cases that Proctor investigated.
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Attorney Rosemary Scapicchio received one of the letters and spoke with NBC10 Boston about the implications on Friday.
“I think it certainly raises a red flag as to whether or not (Proctor’s) investigations are done without bias,” Scapicchio said.
The defense attorney currently represents clients in three different murder cases where Proctor played a role:
- Myles King is accused of killing Marquis Simmons shortly after he got off his moped near his Milton home in 2021
- Shawn Johnson faces murder charges in connection with a deadly shooting outside a Randolph country club on the Fourth of July last year
- Lance Holloman was charged with a homicide on I-93 in 2017
The letter from the Norfolk DA references Proctor’s crude and unprofessional text messages, which he read in court during his testimony in the Karen Read trial.
The letter also noted that Proctor is currently suspended without pay while an internal affairs investigation plays out.
“(Proctor) was incredibly biased and derogatory towards women,” Scapicchio said. “I’m concerned the same bias will have leaked into the people that I represent, who happen to be Black and Brown people.”
More on Trooper Michael Proctor
Attorney Joseph Cataldo also received one of the notification letters.
“Any time the government tries to use a witness with this kind of baggage, it will call into question his credibility,” Cataldo said.
The defense attorney represents Bianca Chionchio, who is charged as an accessory after the fact in the deadly shooting in Randolph.
Cataldo told NBC10 Boston that if a police officer has only a minor role in a case, a troubling background can be overcome by prosecutors.
“But if they were the lead investigator or they were interviewing witnesses and had to make judgment calls, it’s going to have a significant impact,” Cataldo said.
As previously reported, Proctor was a lead investigator in the high-profile murder investigation of Ana Walshe, the Cohasset mother whose husband is accused of killing her and then hiding her dismembered body.
Court documents we obtained show Proctor also played a central role in the Milton murder of Marquis Simmons, interviewing witnesses and gathering evidence from search warrants.
On Thursday, there were also new developments in the case of a prominent Dover doctor accused of killing his wife and dumping her in a nearby pond.
Among a series of new motions, defense attorney Kevin Reddington asked for cell phone communications and other electronic messages from Proctor and other investigators involved in the Dover case.
Reddington specifically referenced testimony in the Karen Read trial of why those messages could be exculpatory.
“The defendant believes and avers that the telephone records, texts, emails and any contact by and between law enforcement and each other is relevant, material and should be produced,” Reddington wrote.
We contacted the attorney representing Proctor for comment and is waiting for a response.
The full scope of cases is still not known. A spokesperson with the Norfolk DA said the office is waiting for Massachusetts State Police to produce a full list of all the cases Proctor investigated.
We asked Scapicchio if this situation could set a precedent for obtaining law enforcement communications related to criminal cases.
“It could and it should because we’re trusting law enforcement to do their job in an unbiased way,” she said. “That’s what we as defense attorneys worry about the most is not following the evidence and instead following the person that you think it responsible because you’ve made a determination based on your biases. That’s what results in wrongful convictions.”
