DEDHAM ― A Norfolk Superior Court judge Tuesday ordered a special prosecutor to turn over documents to Aidan Kearney at a hearing in which the Holden blogger's lawyer accused the state of slow-walking its legal obligations in order to keep Kearney from writing about the murder trial of Karen Read. 

During a status hearing on two cases of witness intimidation Kearney is facing related to Read's trial, his lawyer, Timothy Bradl, suggested that delays and missed deadlines by a special prosecutor were part of a concerted effort to “trample” on Kearney’s First Amendment rights and silence his allegations of state corruption. 

Kearney stands accused of intimidating witnesses in the second-degree murder trial of Read, a Mansfield woman Kearney has argued was framed in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe.

O’Keefe was found dead in the snow outside the Canton home of another Boston police officer the morning of Jan. 29, 2022. Read is accused of striking him while drunk in her SUV just after dropping him off at the home. Her defense team, in a cause Kearney has taken up in more than 300 posts to his website, argues O’Keefe was killed inside the home and then left outside. 

More: Turtleboy factor: As Karen Read trial starts, Holden blogger’s influence on display

The case has spawned intense public speculation and some national attention, much of it fueled by Kearney’s coverage and the unusual revelation that federal prosecutors conducted an inquiry into Read’s case that they have so far declined to publicly detail. 

Kearney is accused of intimidating multiple state witnesses against Read, including people who were inside the Canton home and police officers he alleges are part of a massive cover-up. The 42 year old has held protests outside their homes, accused them of murder and released contact information prosecutors say led them to receive harassment and threats. 

Kearney is charged in one case with multiple counts of intimidation with respect to witnesses and police, among other charges, and in a second case with intimidating and illegally recording an ex-girlfriend who alleged he assaulted her in December. 

Kearney says the woman’s claims were ginned up in concert with the authorities he has accused of corruption in the Read case in order to silence him. He was jailed for months in December after Kenneth Mello, the special prosecutor assigned to his initial witness intimidation case, charged him in Norfolk District Court with assault and battery and witness intimidation of the ex-girlfriend, which led to a revocation of his earlier bail. 

The assault charge was dropped earlier this year in District Court and Kearney was indicted into Norfolk Superior Court on the related intimidation and recording charges. 

He has subsequently been charged in Norfolk District Court with violating a restraining order the woman successfully took out against him after the woman — who attended a Norfolk Superior Court hearing in Read’s case in February — alleged he yelled at her outside the courthouse. 

A Norfolk District Court judge in February declined a request from the state to rejail Kearney as dangerous in that case — instead releasing him without requiring bail — and Kearney argues in court documents that videos and multiple affidavits show the woman’s allegations to be false. 

In Norfolk Superior Court Tuesday, Bradl accused Mello of continuing a campaign to silence his client by intentionally delaying turning over discovery documents to which Kearney is entitled.

Bradl alleged to Judge Michael A. Cahillane that he hasn’t received a number of documents he needs to defend Kearney, including exhibits appended to grand jury minutes. 

Mello, who appeared in court from his home via Zoom, told Cahillane he has been dealing with a serious, ongoing medical issue that left him hospitalized, and said he believed more discovery had been turned over than Bradl was claiming. 

Bradl told the judge that while he has never before had cause to question another lawyer’s medical delay, he does in this case. 

He said Mello appears to have “ample time to harass” Kearney, including seeking to revoke his bail, but not to respond to discovery requests. 

“All I’ve gotten (in discovery), your honor, is a big pile of junk,” Bradl said, alleging that, from what he has seen in grand jury minutes, the presentation to the jury bordered on “satire.” 

Bradl told the judge it seems to him that Mello had been hired by Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey, whom Kearney has accused of being part of the alleged Read cover-up, in order to prevent Kearney from continuing his critical coverage. 

Bradl alleged he first learned of the release of grand jury minutes against Kearney through a defense lawyer for Read, who received them from one of the prosecutors in her case. 

Bradl alleged that to be a “smoking gun” showing Mello was intentionally withholding documents from Kearney. 

Mello disputed the allegation, saying he didn’t share documents with the Read prosecutor and denying any coordination with Morrissey. 

“I’ve never received any direction whatsoever (from Morrissey),” Mello said. 

Mello is a special prosecutor — a prosecutor hired from outside the district attorney’s office to handle a case when there could be an appearance of conflict of interest. 

The judge ordered Mello to provide outstanding discovery documents to Kearney by May 8, reminding him of his obligations under court rules. 

He also asked Mello to file an official notice of his appearance as the prosecutor in the second case against Kearney, something Bradl noted Mello had yet to do. 

Mello, who said he has an upcoming surgery, has missed deadlines to respond to motions filed by Kearney stretching back months. 

After the judge extended his time to answer to one of the motions, Bradl noted this will now be the third such extension. 

In a separate exchange about a different motion, Mello indicated he hadn’t read the motion before appearing to reverse course and saying he didn’t oppose it after Bradl noted it had been filed in February. 

Cahillane scheduled the next hearing in both Superior Court cases for May 23. Kearney, who had dozens of supporters at the courthouse Tuesday, told reporters afterward that authorities are trying to silence him by holding jail time over his head and dragging out the process.

Bradl said he anticipates going to court later this week to vacate the restraining order secured by Kearney’s ex-girlfriend. He noted that the order required Kearney to leave Read’s court proceeding in February when the woman showed up. 

“If the person with the order shows up, they can essentially use that to evict me from the courthouse, which is why we’re filing this,” Kearney said. “This is my biggest story that I’ve ever published, and this person has never come to court before, until the order was issued.” 

News Source : https://www.telegram.com/story/news/local/2024/04/23/turtleboy-lawyer-judge-orders-documents-produced/73431639007/