“This investigation very clearly has been infected with personal relationships and conflicts of interests and cover ups,” he said. “And we intend to shine as much light on it as possible to stop this very obviously compromised prosecution in its tracks.”
The defense alleges that a State Police investigator on the case, Trooper Michael D. Proctor, has a conflict of interest with a potential witness, a second Boston police officer, raising “serious questions as to the objectivity and veracity of the police investigation that has been conducted to date.”
Asked for a response to the conflict of interest allegations made by defense, a spokesman for Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey said prosecutors will respond in court, but are fully aware of their ethical obligations.
“While we will give our detailed response to the defendant’s motion in court, the District Attorney is well aware of his obligations to resolve any conflict of interest,’’ David Traub wrote in an e-mail.
O’Keefe’s death took place amid a night out with Read and friends at a Canton bar and ended in front of 34 Fairview Dr. in Canton, the home of Brian Albert, also a Boston police officer, and his wife, Nicole,where an after-party was held. At the time, a blizzard was underway, a storm that ultimately dropped 20 inches of snow and temperatures fell as low as 12 degrees.
According to both the defense and Morrissey’s office, Read and O’Keefe joined a group that included the Alberts at the Waterfall Bar and Grille, and when it closed, attendees headed to the Albert home.
There was no sign of tension between Read and O’Keefe at the bar, witnesses said. But prosecutors allege in court papers that O’Keefe wanted to end their relationship, that the couple argued frequently, and that Read had left a voicemail on O’Keefe’s phone where she screamed that she hated him, records show.
Both sides agree that Read and O’Keefe arrived outside the Albert home in Read’s black Lexus SUV and parked on the street in front of the Albert home as the storm raged after midnight.
Morrissey’s office alleges that after O’Keefe got out of the front passenger side of the Read’s SUV, he was hit by the right rear side of the vehicle as Read was making a three-point turn. Read, whom authorities contend was legally drunk at the time, allegedly drove off after O’Keefe was hit even though an operating backup camera system showed the area near the right rear, prosecutors allege.
O’Keefe was found by Read, who allegedly made incriminating statements to several people, and two other women under six inches of snow about six hours later. The state medical examiner’s office concluded he died from hypothermia and multiple head injuries, including fractures to his skull, that incapacitated him, according to prosecutors.
In court papers, Yannetti challenged the prosecution’s conclusion that O’Keefe’s injuries resulted from being hit by a vehicle, and instead argued that the medical examiner’s findings describe a man who was subjected to a violent assault.
“O’Keefe had been beaten severely and left for dead, having sustained blunt force injuries to both sides of his face as well as to the back of his head,’’ Yannetti wrote. O’Keefe had “defensive wounds on his hands consistent with a brutal fight” and had “deep scratches or bite marks to his right upper arm and forearm,” he wrote.
The critical physical evidence against Read are shards of red and white plastic authorities reported they found near where O’Keefe lay in the snow. Yannetti wrote in court papers that Canton police used a leaf blower to remove snow and recovered just six drops of blood and nothing else.
Meantime, Proctor had seized Read’s SUV and towed it to the Canton police station where they had access to it for an hour and 18 minutes, Yannetti said. And it was only after the SUV was in custody of police that a second search was conducted by State Police, he…
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