Defense attorneys in cases investigated by fired Massachusetts State Police investigator Michael Proctor are inching closer toward clarity on whether they will get access to his phone records, which could hold information that could free their clients.

“I respect the order of the federal court, I respect the United States Attorney’s office,” one of those attorneys, Joseph Krowski Jr., told the Herald following a multi-case hearing on the matter Friday afternoon

“I don’t want to run afoul of any orders of the court, that’s why we’re doing this very deliberately before the Superior Court in Norfolk County and we are seeking no more and no less than what I believe I am entitled to,” he added.

The defense attorneys were informed last week that the archive of Proctor’s iCloud account provided by the U.S. Attorney’s office to the Norfolk District Attorney’s office would be destroyed the next day — so they rushed into Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham to fight for emergency preservation of those records.

Those records, created during a probe into the Karen Read case, could affect numerous serious Norfolk County felony cases. That includes the case of Brian Walshe, accused of murdering and dismembering his wife on Jan. 1, 2023, whose attorneys discussed the records in his own hearing Thursday.

As of Friday’s hearing, it is confirmed that the records will be preserved for an additional 30 days from July 18, when the first formal emergency hearing for preservation took place.

Defense attorneys want the records because Proctor was fired primarily because of his behavior in the investigation into the death of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, which led to O’Keefe’s girlfriend Karen Read getting charged with murder. Text messages Proctor sent even early into the investigation were self-admittedly “inappropriate” and also understood by defense attorneys as exhibiting bias in the case.

Now that those defense attorneys understand that a record of his work and personal cellphone contents exists, they want to know if anything that could help their cases could be within the records.

Muddied process

The hearings Thursday and Friday of last week clearly showed that nothing was clear having to do with those records. Hearings this week, including Friday’s, brought little more clarity.

What is known is that at some point in February 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s office, as it probed the state investigation into O’Keefe’s death, shared the iCloud account with the Norfolk District Attorney’s office.

It appears that the information was to be used only in the context of the Karen Read case. Not only are the details surrounding the information not public but they aren’t even available to attorneys representing clients who could be affected. They are protected by a federal court order that is itself sealed.

As of Friday’s hearing, the defense attorneys have signed protective agreements ahead of any information they do receive.

Rosemary Scapicchio, who represents two clients — including Myles King, who is charged with murder — who could be affected, proposed in court Friday that defense attorneys and the DA’s office staff “join forces” to compel both more direction and access from the federal court.

Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor (Greg Derr/Pool)