Fired trooper Proctor says he can’t turn over personal communications, despite court order

A Norfolk Superior Court judge ordered former Massachusetts State Police trooper Michael Proctor in June to preserve all the data on his personal cell phone and promptly turn it over to prosecutors.

But Proctor, through his lawyer, said he changed phones in 2024 and no longer had access to those communications. On top of that, Proctor claimed his phone automatically deleted data after 30 days.

“Therefore … it is unlikely Mr. Proctor has any relevant information in his possession concerning this case,” the lawyer, Daniel Moynihan, wrote.

The ruling came in the case of Myles King, a man charged with the 2021 killing of Marquis Simmons in Milton. The judge, Michael Doolin, required Proctor to turn over communications from his personal phone from the date of the killing, July 10, 2021, to the date King was indicted, Nov. 19, 2021.

The order comes as Proctor’s communications have become a central issue in numerous criminal cases, like King’s, following the revelation that he sent derogatory text messages about Karen Read while investigating the death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe.

The district attorney’s office hired a lawyer to go through an extraction of Proctor’s work cell phone and compile a report.

While the report hasn’t been publicized, Doolan said the lawyer found the phone contained communications that could be seen as beneficial to defendants in some cases he investigated.

In his ruling, Doolin wrote, “Proctor’s communications demonstrate that he exhibited biases against suspects he was investigating and otherwise conducted himself in a manner that led to his termination.”

The messages lend credence to a theory put forth by King’s lawyers that police bias played some role in the case, Doolin continued.

“They demonstrate a pattern of bias and misconduct by Proctor in conducting investigations that fairly suggests there may have been similar impropriety in this case and casts doubt on his credibility as an investigator generally.”

In the Read case, it was primarily communications from Proctor’s personal phone that became central to her defense, such as a text where he said he wished Read would kill herself.

It’s not clear whether the messages Proctor sent while investigating the King case on his personal cell phone would benefit his defense in the same way they did Read’s. But Doolin said prosecutors must turn over any information from it that could be seen as beneficial to King, as required by law.

Moynihan, the lawyer for Proctor, has not argued the issue before a judge in Norfolk Superior Court. But the issue appears likely to be discussed at a hearing in King’s case scheduled for Aug. 12.