A Massachusetts State Police trooper has filed a lawsuit against top brass at headquarters, accusing even Col. Richard McKeon of wrongdoing.
A Massachusetts State Police trooper has filed a lawsuit against top brass at headquarters, accusing even Col. Richard McKeon of wrongdoing.
Trooper Ryan Sceviour says his bosses forced him to alter a police report. NBC Boston learned Wednesday evening that Gov. Charlie Baker is reviewing the information regarding the incident.
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"It's terrible," said Sceviour's attorney, Leonard Kesten. "What they did to this trooper is so wrong."
The case stems from an incident in October, when Sceviour arrested Alli Bibaud on drunk driving charges in Worcester. The daughter of district judge Tim Bibaud, she made inappropriate statements, according to the original police report.
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"One was 'my dad is an [expletive] judge,' and the other was that she indicated during the booking process she was suggesting the possibility of sexual favors in return for leniency," said Kesten.
Two days later, the trooper received a voicemail ordering him to the police barracks.
"That's an order from the colonel, and it's got something to do with an arrest report, a judge's daughter," the message states.
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Sceviour's attorney says the trooper was told to remove Bibaud's embarrassing statements.
"Trooper Sceviour said to the major, 'Would this be happening if this wasn't the daughter of a judge?'" Kesten said. "She said, 'no, it wouldn't, that's why you're here.'"
In a statement, a State Police spokesman said, in part, the substance of the police report never changed and that “The revision consisted only of removal of a sensationalistic, directly-quoted statement by the defendant, which made no contribution to proving the elements of the crime with which she was charged. Inclusion of an unnecessary statement does not meet the report-writing standards required by the department."
A state police spokesperson said in a statement that only "a sensationalistic, directly-quoted statement" was removed, and that "inclusion of an unncecessary statement does not meet the report-writing standards required by the department."
"That's not true," Kesten responded. "It's never taken out, you're supposed to put every communication with a suspect into your police report."
The full statement from Massachusetts State Police is below:
Supervisory members of the State Police, up to and including the Colonel, may review any report and have the responsibility to order any appropriate revisions. In the report in question, the revision consisted only of removal of a sensationalistic, directly-quoted statement by the defendant, which made no contribution to proving the elements of the crimes with which she was charged. Inclusion of an unnecessary sensationalistic statement does not meet the report-writing standards required by the department. The revised report - which is clearly marked as having been revised -includes all observations made by troopers, all descriptions of physical evidence found in the defendant's possession, and summaries of statements made by the defendant relative to her possession and use of heroin, all of which constitute clear evidence against her. Furthermore, both versions of the report were submitted to the court. The removal of the inflammatory and unnecessary quotation did not change the substance of the trooper's narrative, did not remove any elements of probable cause from the report, and, most importantly, had no impact on the charges against the defendant. The defendant remains charged -- as she was initially charged -- with operating under the influence of drugs, operating under the influence of liquor, negligent operation of a motor vehicle, and two other motor vehicle offenses, and she will be held accountable for those crimes based on the evidence collected by State Police.
