Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor is the focus of an internal investigation by MSP over "a potential violation of Department policy" a spokesperson tells Inside Edition Digital.
The Massachusetts man tasked with leading the investigation into the death of police officer John O'Keefe is under fire.
On Wednesday, prosecutors in the Karen Read trial called to the stand Ashley Vallier, a forensic scientist with the Massachusetts State Police crime lab.
Vallier spoke about the pieces of broken taillight and cocktail glass found at the scene of the crime and said that those taillight pieces fit perfectly into the taillight of Read's car.
On cross-examination, defense attorney David Yanetti asked when Vallier received that crucial evidence in the case. She testified that it came to the crime lab on March 14, 2022, six weeks after O'Keefe's death.
When asked by Yanetti what happened to the evidence in that six-week gap, Vallier said she did not know. Vallier also acknowledged that the evidence was turned over by Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor.
The next witness on the stand, forensic scientist Christina Hanley, said that she too did not receive evidence until March 14 from Proctor.
It is unclear why Proctor waited so long to submit the evidence and he, like all of the witnesses for the prosecution, has never spoken publicly about the case. Read had been charged in connection to O'Keefe's death less than a week after he was found dead. Read's defense team had already gone after Proctor for his close relationship with a number of members of law enforcement connected to the case, including Brian Albert. O'Keefe was found dead in Albert's yard after being invited to a party at his house that night.
Procter is already the focus of an internal investigation by MSP over "a potential violation of Department policy" a spokesperson tells Inside Edition Digital. The reason for the investigation is not being shared by the MSP at this time and the spokesperson said that the trooper "remains on full duty."
These new developments have some wondering if Proctor will take the stand to testify. The defense has argued that Proctor planted the evidence at the crime scene, a claim that MSP Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik denied while testifying on Wednesday. Bukhenik was the on-duty supervisor the morning that the body of the Boston Police Department officer was discovered.
Proctor has not been charged with any crime, and the MSP will not say if the internal investigation into the trooper is related to the Read case.
"Trooper Proctor has been fully cooperative in responding to the investigations conducted by the US Attorney’s Office and the Massachusetts State Police Internal Affairs Unit," Proctor's lawyer Michael R. DiStefano tells Inside Edition Digital. "To be clear, Trooper Proctor remains steadfast in the integrity of the work he performed investigating the death of Mr. John O’Keefe."
Read's fate will be decided after her murder trial in Norfolk County Superior Court, which is expected to last two months. Crowds of people have gathered each day outside the Karen Read trial to cheer on the defendant and at times antagonize O'Keefe's family members and friends, leading some to accuse Read's supporters of witness intimidation. O'Keefe's loved ones were seen in court fighting back tears on Tuesday as the 911 call made the morning that his body was discovered was played for the jury.
O'Keefe had been raising his niece and nephew for eight years at the time of his death, gaining custody of the two in 2014 after the children lost their mother, O'Keefe's sister, to a brain tumor, and their father to a heart attack over just months. O'Keefe's own mother has now lost two of her three children.
Judge Beverly Cannone is presiding over the proceedings and has been quick to admonish both the prosecution and defense when they have disobeyed her orders. Adam Lally, an assistant district attorney in Norfolk County, has been named the lead prosecutor.
Read's initial defense attorney, David Yannetti, is now her second attorney, while her lead attorney in the case is Alan Jackson. He served as the assistant head deputy for the major crimes division at the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and has previously represented high-profile defendants, including Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and Phil Spector.
Jury selection lasted two weeks in the case, which comes almost two years after a grand jury indicted Read.
Read is charged with second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while driving under the influence, and leaving the scene of a collision causing injury or death. She has entered a plea of not guilty to all three counts.
She faces a possible life sentence if convicted of murder.
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