A lawyer for former state police Col. Richard D. McKeon Tuesday asked a federal judge to dismiss a pair of lawsuits filed by state troopers in the case the arrest of Alli Bibaud, a judge's daughter. The lawyer argued that the colonel’s actions were legally sound.
The motions were filed a day after Leonard H. Kesten, the attorney for two troopers suing state police, sought to take depositions from state police and court officials.
U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole delayed the depositions Friday, until at least Feb. 26. Among those Mr. Kesten seeks to question are Brendan Keenan, acting clerk-magistrate of Central District Court in Worcester, and Kara Colby, Ms. Bibaud’s initial defense attorney.
Mr. Kesten represents Ryan N. Sceviour and Ali Rei, state troopers who allege that state police, in concert with the Worcester district attorney’s office, tried to prevent from becoming public salacious statements that Ms. Bibaud, daughter of Dudley District Court Judge Timothy Bibaud, made during her arrest in October. In court documents, Mr. Kesten alleges a “felonious plan” was hatched that included the destruction of police documents and a plan to have the original police report “surreptitiously removed” from Central District Court and replaced with an altered one.
Ms. Bibaud was charged with possession of heroin and driving under the influence after a car crash Oct. 16 on Interstate 290 in Worcester. Trooper Sceviour wrote in his report that Ms. Bibaud stated that her father was a judge and insinuated she’d trade sexual favors for leniency, while Trooper Rei reported that Ms. Bibaud disclosed she had exchanged sex for heroin.
Both Judge Bibaud and Ms. Bibaud previously worked in the Worcester district attorney’s office. Ms. Bibaud's criminal case was transferred to Framingham District Court to avoid a conflict of interest. Before that occurred, a judge in Worcester agreed to impound the case file and granted a request from a Worcester County prosecutor to redact the police report.
Mr. McKeon and Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. have argued the impoundment and redaction were proper, saying that the statements removed from the arrest report were irrelevant to the charges and should have never been included. Trooper Sceviour was issued a negative “observation report” as a result of his report and warned to refrain from including “inappropriate commentary” in the future.
The executive director of the Massachusetts Police Association in November said changes aren’t typically made to police reports once approved. Additionally, Gov. Charlie Baker has said that he believes the troopers did nothing wrong and that it was a “mistake” for Col. McKeon to get involved.
Col. McKeon, noting the controversy the case has engendered, retired in November. His motions to dismiss, filed Tuesday, represent his first legal answer to the charges.
In the motions, his lawyer, George C. McMahon of Quincy, argued that the colonel’s actions were “in keeping with his statutory obligations and with two court orders.
“(Col. McKeon) ordered changes to a police report that contained irrelevant and salacious statements purportedly made by a young woman struggling with drug addiction, and ordered an observation report to be placed in the file of the officer responsible for their inclusion,” he wrote.
In their lawsuits, Troopers Sceviour and Rei allege their superiors and others engaged in a conspiracy to deprive them of their constitutional rights. They also allege intentional infliction of emotional distress.
In his motion, Col. McKeon’s lawyer argued that the fact that the impoundment and redaction requests were approved by a judge proves that the colonel acted appropriately.
“The driver’s defense attorney, the prosecutor, and the court all agreed the improper statements should be removed,” he wrote, adding that Col. McKeon would have been “remiss” if he did not undertake the action he did.
Mr. McMahon did not immediately respond to an email sent Tuesday afternoon asking how many times prior to Ms. Bibaud’s arrest the colonel had ordered information removed from a police report.
Mr. McMahon noted in his motions that neither trooper had been fired, and said that fears they have expressed about damage to job security are “unsupported by any fact.”
Regarding Trooper Rei, he wrote that she “does not allege any particular suffering (she) endured, other than fear of discipline that never materialized.”
Reached Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Kesten said he is “confident the troopers will prevail.” He said the judge’s order postponing the subpoenas he’d issued for depositions was standard since both sides haven’t yet met in court.
According to court documents, Mr. Kesten is looking to question three state police officials – Maj. Susan Anderson, Lt. James Fogarty and Lt. Col. Daniel Risteen – along with Mr. Keenan and Ms. Colby.
Mr. Keenan declined to comment Tuesday, while Ms. Colby could not be immediately reached.
Mr. McMahon, in a section of his motions in which he summarized the case, noted that Trooper Sceviour alleged that Maj. Anderson told him the order to revise his report came from Mr. McKeon and state Secretary of Public Safety Daniel Bennett.
Mr. McMahon did not attempt to confirm or deny the veracity of the allegation. Mr. Bennett, a standout prosecutor in Worcester prior to his appointment in Boston, has denied ordering the report scrubbed.
Mr. Bennett is not a named defendant in the lawsuits, nor is Mr. Early. According to court documents, not all defendants have yet been named.
Contact Brad Petrishen at brad.petrishen@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @BPetrishenTG.