Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Former Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor is sitting before the state Civil Service Commission Tuesday as he tries to get his job back.
Proctor, the lead investigator in the Karen Read case, was fired from the state police in March after being found guilty of misconduct, including sending derogatory text messages about Read, sharing confidential information to people outside of law enforcement and drinking on the job.
He was initially relieved of duty following Read’s first murder trial in 2024, and was suspended without pay soon after.
Proctor is appealing his firing during a two-day hearing this week in Downtown Boston.
Daniel Moynihan, Proctor’s attorney, argued Tuesday morning that Proctor was punished more severely than other officers who had similar conduct violations, calling out state police for going through Proctor’s phone.
Moynihan said Proctor has been made a “scapegoat” due to the state police “caving in to public pressure.”
In his opening statement, state police attorney Stephen Carley zeroed in on Proctor’s inappropriate texts, quoting the messages calling Read a “babe” and a “nutbag.”
State police had only one witness, Detective Lt. Kevin Dwyer. Dwyer investigated Proctor’s misconduct and expanded on the evidence he found to confirm the allegations against Proctor.
Read was accused of hitting her Boston police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving him to die. Her first trial ended in a mistrial, but she was eventually acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges at the conclusion of her second trial this past June.
Proctor’s hearing is scheduled to pick back up Oct. 21-23.