The case of the blogger accused of intimidating witnesses within the Karen Learn homicide trial continues to plod alongside, prompting his protection lawyer to convey up a attainable dismissal movement for lack of prosecution.
Defendant Aidan Kearney, 42, of Holden, faces indictments on eight felony counts of witness intimidation and eight misdemeanor counts — 5 of picketing witnesses and three of “conspiracy” — associated to the Learn homicide case. Kearney has lined the case and trial from a pro-Learn perspective on his weblog, TB Each day Information, in addition to an assortment of social media accounts below the “Turtleboy” model.
Learn is accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, by placing him along with her automotive after an evening out in Canton in late January 2022. After 9 weeks, a mistrial was declared in her case and a brand new trial will possible be scheduled in a July 22 standing listening to.
The listening to, over roughly one and a half hours, spanned evidentiary points in two instances, with Kearney additionally going through one other witness intimidation cost in addition to an unlawful wiretapping cost associated to an alleged Christmas Eve 2023 incident with an ex-girlfriend.
A Dedham District Court docket listening to was held Thursday morning associated to an alleged violation of the restraining order that ex-girlfriend holds in opposition to him, however that was rapidly continued to Aug. 22 at 9 a.m.
First Modification points
Of specific concern within the Thursday afternoon listening to in Norfolk Superior Court docket was that protection lawyer Timothy Bradl mentioned a Invoice of Particulars is required on this case to spell out precisely what the federal government asserts his consumer has accomplished.
Bradl claims that Kearney’s actions at concern are usually not dissimilar to these studies do day by day, likening Kearney’s questioning of Learn prosecution witnesses in public locations to tv information promos the place reporters present their dogged reporting by questioning newsmakers outdoors the place they dwell in work.
He particularly cited a neighborhood information clip by which a TV reporter questioned Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor outdoors his dwelling after a mistrial was declared within the Learn case. He famous that no one was charging any of those members of the media for doing their jobs, nor any of the numerous media sitting within the courtroom’s gallery, nor ought to these actions be a criminal offense.
“I need to know what’s a crime and what’s OK,” Bradl mentioned. “We’ve gotten to the point where we have to go and ask the government ‘What’s OK about the First Amendment now in Norfolk County?’”
He known as the fees “insanely unconstitutional” and “overly broad” and that police and prosecutors leveled the fees in opposition to his consumer as a result of he was “making headway” in his protection in opposition to corruption within the police companies and the Norfolk DA’s workplace.
Particular prosecutor Robert Cosgrove countered that “If there’s anything in the world that doesn’t need a bill of particulars, it’s this case.”
“Mr. Kearney is proud of bullying these witnesses to try to prevent them from testifying,” Cosgrove mentioned, saying that Kearney introduced himself in his personal movies in the way in which the alleged victims declare he harassed them within the grand jury testimony.
Ex-girlfriend
The first thread of the opposite case — that involving an ex-girlfriend Kearney is accused of intimidating and illegally recording throughout their interplay on Christmas Eve 2023 — is that Bradl mentioned the Commonwealth is making an attempt for no motive to forestall the protection from acquiring cellular phone data from Verizon to see what messages the accuser could have deleted.
“Here we are with my client’s very liberties at stake having the government trying to hold us up,” Bradl mentioned. He added later, “These are non-privileged, third-party records. Why is the government scratching and screaming that we can’t have access to this?”
Cosgrove, a retired Norfolk County prosecutor and Bristol County choose introduced in as a particular prosecutor on this case to help the ailing Fall River lawyer Kenneth Mello, the unique particular prosecutor, mentioned Bradl was pushing “a conspiracy theory.”
The ex-girlfriend’s lawyer mentioned that her consumer has “grave concerns over her privacy if these records were released.”
Seized objects
Lastly, Kearney needs the computer systems and telephones police seized from him 9 months to the day in the past again — or at the least the cloned info, which Bradl mentioned consists of vital work, contacts and knowledge.
Bradl mentioned these are his shoppers “tools of the trade” in his journalism and bear delicate info, together with info concerning the police companies who leveled the fees..
“We’ve never seen hide or hair of any of it,” Bradl mentioned through the listening to.
He added that prosecutors are “supposed to comply with preventive medicine” — in that copies of the supplies on these seized objects needs to be scanned by an impartial official to ensure nothing inside attorney-client privilege or every other privileged info that has nothing to do with the case at hand.
Bradl mentioned prosecutors have missed a number of deadlines set on discovery and that he could have grounds to file for a dismissal for “lack of prosecution.”
Cosgrove mentioned he was initially introduced on to advise on assembling a “taint team” to carry out that preventive drugs and that he feels that he’s lastly close to able to file that process as he has “identified people” to carry out this work. Additionally, regardless of Bradl’s protestations on the contrary, Cosgrove mentioned that not having the objects hasn’t prevented Kearney from working.
“I wouldn’t say that Mr. Kearney has gone dark in his more-than-weekly web presentations,” Cosgrove mentioned. “I will look into it and that’s as far as I’m willing to go at this point.”
Going ahead
Choose Michael A. Cahillane set deadlines in early August for sure filings to be accomplished and scheduled the following listening to for Aug. 29 at 2 p.m.
