An attorney for one of Karen Read's most visible supporters, facing charges of witness intimidation in the case, is leveling new allegations against prosecutors.
The defense team for Aidan Kearney, the blogger better known as "Turtleboy," sent a letter to prosecutors Thursday claiming that Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey lied about evidence and improperly communicated by personal email.
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Kearney's team cited an email Morrissey sent the judge in September of last year, a day after a witness in the Read case applied for a harassment prevention order against the blogger — which was denied.
That email, Kearney's lawyers say, came from Morrissey's personal iCloud email account instead of his state email address.
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"He did that on purpose so that it wouldn't come up in public records searches because he doesn't want the public to know what he's doing," Kearney told NBC10 Boston Friday.
"In and of itself, it wouldn't be that big of a concern that someone in a rush uses the wrong phone, sends out the information," NBC10 Boston legal analyst Michael Coyne said Friday. "But put it with all of the other facts that are alleged in that letter, it raises another eyebrow to say, 'Is this all on the up-and-up?'"
Morrissey raised concerns in the email about a Stoughton District Court employee sharing a copy of an affidavit with Kearney, according to the letter from attorney Mark Bederow, who represents the blogger.
A court spokesperson said that court employee was placed on paid administrative leave last October and terminated the following month, but declined to comment on the reason.
Kearney said that former court employee also provided him with evidence that investigators had extracted data from his cellphones, which were seized when he was arrested a year ago.
"They have claimed in court, more times than I can count, that they've never looked through my phones, and that is the reason they haven't given me back my phones," Kearney said. "There's information in there from confidential sources that I no longer have."
The Boston Globe reported Friday that Bederow specifically said Massachusetts State Police Det. Lt. Brian Tully searched Kearney's phones. Bederow added that the defense has not received any phone data from prosecutors despite discovery rules requiring that it be made available.
On Friday evening, state police announced that Tully — who testified at Read's trial and has been the subject of an internal investigation — has been transferred and is no longer leading the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office's detective unit.
State police said the department's new leader, Col. Geoffrey Noble, decided transferring Tully was "in the best interest of the Department’s public safety mission," but didn't elaborate.
NBC10 Boston has reached out to the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office about Kearney's claims, but has not heard back.
Kearney is scheduled to appear in court in December for a hearing about his seized cellphones.
