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Experts say that while special prosecutor Hank Brennan may have mitigated the impact of inappropriate text messages sent by the lead homicide detective about Karen Read before she was charged with John O’Keefe’s murder, the messages are still harmful to the state’s case. The language used in the texts was described as vulgar and obscene, further tarnishing the investigation.
In the previous trial, the revelation of these texts – when read aloud by witness Michael Proctor – had a significant negative effect, resulting in a hung jury. This time, the prosecution chose not to bring Proctor back as a witness. Instead, Proctor’s childhood friend Jonathan Diamandis, visibly uneasy, had to go through the contents of the messages with the jury.
But beyond the crass remarks about Read, experts say less explosive messages about Proctor’s early opinions of the investigation could be damning.
According to retired Massachusetts Superior Court Judge and Boston College law professor Jack Lu, Proctor is hoping that the defense will call him to testify. Lu speculates that the prosecution will only bring Proctor back if they feel they are losing the case – a last-ditch effort akin to a ‘Hail Mary’ pass.
Proctor is on the defense witness list, but Read’s team called Diamandis instead, in what Edwards believes is a risky move by the defense.
“Brennan has now taken the wind out of the sails of the defense because the reading of those texts did not have the impact that they did during the first trial when Michael Proctor read them himself,” Edwards said.
The choice to call Proctor’s childhood friend could be viewed as a safe way for the defense team to drop the bombshell text chain without risking cross-examination by the state.
On the other hand, the defense can now point to the fact that prosecutors declined to put their lead investigator on the witness stand, Bederow said.
“They’ll likely pursue a ‘missing witness’ instruction from the court in which the judge will inform jurors they may draw an adverse inference against prosecution for their failure to call Proctor,” he said. “It is virtually unheard of for the prosecution not to call the lead investigator in a murder case, but of course it’s also extraordinarily rare that the lead investigator was terminated for unprofessional behavior and bias on [the same] case.”
