Michael Proctor, lead investigator in Karen Read case, continues appeal of his firing

The Massachusetts State Police trooper who was fired over his handling of the Karen Read review is continuing his efforts to get his job back Former Trooper Michael Proctor was dishonorably discharged from the MSP in March after the agency s trial board discovered him guilty of multiple violations of the organization s Code of Conduct All but one of the violations had to do with the assessment into the death of Boston Police Officer John O Keefe in Canton for which his girlfriend Read was charged with second-degree murder Proctor through his attorney vowed to appeal the firing at the time A virtual hearing before the state Civil Amenity Commission this week brought him one step further on his appeals process He was a stellar trooper for years without a blemish on his record Proctor s attorney Daniel Moynihan recounted the Herald Wednesday And I believe it s been established that the inquiry at least on his part was not compromised in any way Moynihan explained he didn t want to get into too much detail about the matter as he doesn t want to reveal any of his strategies before employing them in hearings But he announced the road ahead is one of preparation seeking evidence from the State Police thoroughly reviewing that evidence and gearing up for the next hearing scheduled for Aug at a m in person before the Civil Arrangement Commission at Cambridge St in Boston Proctor s firing Read went through two trials and was acquitted at the conclusion of the second trial last month on all but drunken driving the least of the charges jurors were to consider Proctor was the episode officer of the analysis meaning he managed it and he was fired between the two trials The Trial Board discovered that Proctor while assigned as the lead investigator in a homicide scrutiny sent inappropriate text messages about a suspect shared sensitive details about the assessment to non-law enforcement and brought himself and the MSP into disrepute by his conduct A fourth finding was that he drank alcohol while eating dinner on duty and drove his cruiser buzzed At the time of Proctor s firing on March Moynihan declared Proctor has never denied that he sent derogatory and vulgar text messages in private conversations with personal friends He does deny however that his examination in this circumstance was compromised in any way which Moynihan mentioned was supported by testimony at the Trial Board Moynihan s announcement continued We look forward to the appeal of the Department s decision in a forum where Michael Proctor will receive actual due process in a fair and impartial hearing