DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) – State police Trooper Michael Proctor returned to the witness stand to face cross examination Wednesday as the Karen Read murder trial continued.
Proctor first took the stand on Monday and revealed graphic text messages he sent to various people, including other state troopers, about Read while he was investigating her.
As parties reconvened in Norfolk Superior Court, Proctor again faced questions about his texts and his relationship with people involved in the case.
Read, 44, of Mansfield, is facing charges including second degree murder after prosecutors said she hit her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, with her SUV and left him to die after dropping him off outside the Canton home of Brian and Nicole Albert on Jan. 29, 2022.
Read’s defense has said she is being framed, saying O’Keefe was actually beaten to death and attacked by a dog during a party inside the Albert home.
Read’s attorneys claim police covered up details and planted evidence to implicate Read in the case. The defense has pointed to Proctor as a key player in the alleged cover-up and raised questions about his handling of evidence.
Proctor served as the lead investigator in the Read case and is currently the subject of an internal affairs investigation by the Massachusetts State Police.
Judge says juror has been dismissed from case
There were no court proceedings on Tuesday. Ahead of Wednesday’s cross examination, 7NEWS legal expert Tom Hoopes said Proctor’s bias against Read could still be separated from the rest of the case the prosecution has built.
Hoopes said the state could have skipped questioning Proctor. But the defense likely would have called him instead.
Read entered the courthouse shortly before 9 a.m. Wednesday with attorneys David Yannetti and Alan Jackson.
Moments later, Judge Beverly Cannone announced one juror had been dismissed from the case.
“It’s personal to that juror,” Cannone said. “It has nothing…