Lawyers for blogger Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney say the special prosecutors in charge of his case, who accuse him of intimidating pro-Karen Read witnesses, are lying and claiming they have no evidence from his cellphones.

“For approximately a year, the Commonwealth has claimed or implied that Mr. Kearney’s cell phones were not searched,” attorney Mark Bederow wrote in a filing Thursday. “These representations are patently false.”

Kearney, 42, faces eight counts of witness intimidation and eight misdemeanor counts – five of picketing witnesses and three of “conspiracy” – in connection with the Read murder case. Kearney has covered the case and trial from a pro-read perspective on his blog, TB Daily News, as well as on various social media accounts under the “Turtleboy” brand.

Bederow says that Det. Lt. Brian Tully of the Massachusetts State Police Detective Bureau, based in the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office, took information from at least one of the phones last October – and that Kearney’s defense team “recently came into possession of several pages” of the extraction report was received.

“It is outrageous that the defense received evidence in your possession relating to the alleged intimidation of named witnesses in the indictments against Mr Kearney from a third party, rather than the Commonwealth, which was required to disclose this evidence to the defense several months ago .” but instead has repeatedly denied its existence,” Bederow wrote in the complaint.

Bederow says Tully confiscated Kearney’s phones when he was arrested on October 11, 2023, and MSP investigators had access to the device that morning. According to the documents, Kearney’s phones are still in MSP’s possession.

Bederow says special prosecutor Kenneth Mello repeatedly assured both Kearney’s attorney, Timothy Bradl, and the judge that the devices had not been searched pending further instructions from the Supreme Court.

“Mello gave the court and the defense the clear impression that Mr. Kearney’s phones had not been searched or photographed in order to steal them, even though he knew that exactly the opposite was the case,” Bederow wrote. ” It strains credibility that Mr. Mello, who frequently discussed the investigation with DL Tully in October 2023, was unaware on November 28, 2023 that DL Tully had in fact searched Mr. Kearney’s devices, and that at least one phone had previously been extracted .”

The case emphasizes that everything Kearney did to promote his reporting on the Read case, including the reporting “that launched the global ‘Free Karen Read’ movement almost overnight,” is entirely justified protected by the First Amendment.

Additionally, Bederow says he and his team believe Kearney is “being prosecuted to suppress his First Amendment rights, publicly — and vocally — about alleged corruption and misconduct in the Read case by the Commonwealth, MSPs and civilians to report and take the stand as witnesses against him.

“The Commonwealth’s cover-up has harmed Mr. Kearney professionally and disadvantaged him as a criminal defendant,” Bederow wrote. “He is entitled to data on his phones necessary to continue his journalism and he has the full right to see evidence to which he is legally entitled.”

Read, 44, of Mansfield, was charged as of June 9, 2022, with second-degree murder, OUI manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident that killed John O’Keefe, a Boston police officer, and her boyfriend on January 29, 2022.

The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office did not return a Herald request for comment by deadline Thursday.

Originally published: October 17, 2024 at 4:17 p.m