Michael Proctor will be a "missing character" in next Karen Read trial, legal expert says
BOSTON - Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in the Karen Read case, has been transferred to a field services division in South Boston, according to WBZ-TV I-Team sources.
Michael Proctor
The move is a formality because he won't be performing any actual work until he has a disciplinary hearing, which could eventually lead to his official firing. Proctor was relieved of his duties Monday, shortly after Read's trial ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury.
Proctor admitted he sent several derogatory texts about Read during the investigation. He was ordered to read them out loud on the witness stand during the trial.
Will Karen Read be retried?
The Norfolk County District Attorney's Office plans to retry Read, but will Proctor testify again?
"I can't see the government wanting to put him back on the stand," Boston College law professor Jeff Cohen told WBZ.
Cohen said Proctor technically can testify, but probably won't.
"Trooper Proctor is, if I were a betting man would say, is going to be a missing character in the second trial and the government may decide that some of the witnesses that they thought were really going to be really helpful turned out not to be so helpful, and they could avoid them," Cohen said.
Karen Read jury
A new trial could start as soon as later this year. But with the attention on this case, how could the court find another impartial jury?
"We found juries for Whitey Bulger and Donald Trump, and so we what we're looking for when we search for a jury is someone not who knows nothing about the case, but someone who just has the ability to be fair and impartial," Cohen said.
The court, at lawyers' urging, could also pull a jury from a different county, instead of Norfolk County again.
There are other ways a second Karen Read trial could look different from the first.
"That is one advantage to the government is, they know what the cross examinations are going to be. They know what the weaknesses of the witnesses are going to be," Cohen said. "They may decide that there are, say, 10 witnesses that they just don't need to put on anymore."
The state could also choose to bring different charges.
Is Karen Read out on bail?
In the meantime, is Karen Read a free woman and what happens to her as she awaits another trial?
"She's just like any other defendant right now, and she's out on bail," Cohen said.
Karen Read jury split
Another big question to consider - what if the second Karen Read trial also ends in a hung jury?
"In legal fantasy land, there's no real limit on how many times you can try someone," Cohen told WBZ.
It's highly unlikely that the state would ever try Karen Read three times. There is a status hearing scheduled to start planning the next trial on July 22 in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts.
