The choose within the case of Cohasset’s accused spouse killer Brian Walshe disclosed a doable battle of curiosity.
Superior Court docket Choose Diance C. Freniere mentioned that former U.S. Lawyer Michael Sullivan, whom the state has picked to characterize it in a federal courtroom matter tied to the Walshe case and others, “is a mentor of mine and a friend of mine.”
Throughout a quick digital listening to Friday, Freniere mentioned she had “searched her conscience” and believes she will nonetheless pretty deal with the case regardless of her private relationship with Sullivan. Nonetheless, she mentioned, it was her responsibility to tell the attorneys in case the protection discovered it problematic.
One in all Walshe’s protection attorneys, Larry Tipton, didn’t supply any instant remark. Freniere mentioned that she would give the events time to contemplate the problem.
Tipton did say he could also be “moving for a change of venue” however would argue that request in a later movement and didn’t supply any specifics. Two weeks in the past, Tipton additionally argued that the first-degree homicide cost in opposition to his consumer needs to be dropped, saying the proof doesn’t point out premeditation.
Walshe is accused of murdering and dismembering his spouse, Ana Walshe, at their Cohasset dwelling on Jan. 1, 2023. Prosecutors say that a few of his alleged ugly web searches occurred earlier than Ana Walshe died, indicating premeditation.
Walshe is scheduled to go to trial in October.
Sullivan’s half within the Walshe case extends to a number of felony-level instances in Norfolk County that had been investigated, not less than partially, by former Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor.
Proctor was positioned on go away instantly following the primary Karen Learn homicide trial final 12 months and fired forward of the second trial, which occurred earlier this 12 months. Learn was acquitted of expenses that she murdered her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, in January 2022, however was convicted of the bottom cost out there to jurors: drunken driving.
An MSP investigation discovered that Proctor had acted inappropriately in the course of the investigation into O’Keefe’s demise, with conduct that would counsel a bias in opposition to Learn.
Final month, protection attorneys in different instances involving Proctor obtained discover from the Norfolk District Lawyer’s workplace that a seize of Proctor’s iCloud account can be deleted the following day — doable proof they mentioned they hadn’t recognized existed.
They’re combating for emergency preservation of the fabric, arguing it might include proof of Proctor’s bias in their very own instances. The sticking level is that the supplies are managed by federal authorities, not the native DA, and topic to a shadowy safety order.
Greg Derr/Pool photograph
Choose Diane Freniere listens to motions within the Brian Walshe case final December. (Greg Derr/Pool photograph)
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