When the system falls apart

The Commonwealth is again facing accusations of discovery violations in a Norfolk County homicide. The lead prosecutor took the stand on Monday to face questions about who exactly knew what, and when.

Adam Lally, the embattled Norfolk County Assistant District Attorney, sat perched in his chair, peering towards defense attorney Rosemary Schapicchio. What otherwise appeared to be a run of the mill encounter on a crisp, sunny August morning in Norfolk Superior Court between two opposing attorneys, was actually nothing of the sort.

Because for this round of the proverbial fight, the Commonwealth sat not at counsel table, but on the witness stand, right hand raised, swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help him God.

The impetus for this hearing, a result of Attorney Scapicchio’s Motion to Dismiss a first degree murder indictment against her client, Myles King, for discovery violations, appears poised to be the basis for the next chapter in the aftermath of the Commonwealth v. Karen Read. The fallout has continued swiftly and forcefully for the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office and the Massachusetts State Police, who were jointly - and severally - accused of corruption, favoritism and most seriously, actively creating, tainting or planting evidence against the accused. While it remains to be seen whether the most serious of the allegations will ever, or could ever be substantiated, it is ever more clear that there is at a minimum, an unacceptable level of incompetence and dare I say, laziness, permeating through these two agencies.

And rather unfortunately for him, Adam Lally finds himself smack dab in the middle of two separate sets of accusations, along with former Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor. As Judge Peter Krupp explained, the question to be answered relative to Attorney Lally’s testimony was:

“What did this ADA know, what did he do, who did he talk to? That’s arguably work product - it gets discovered in this context because the question is - why wasn’t this stuff produced in 2021? ….. I understand that could be embarrassing for the office, for certain individuals - thats where we are right now in this particular case because lots of stuff in 2021 wasn’t turned over”.

The allegations in this particular case are that the District Attorney’s Office did not provide a rather voluminous amount of discovery until a new prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Hickman, was assigned to the case and began an independent review of her own. Some of the discovery may prove to be material and relevant to the underlying investigation and at a minimum, hampered counsel’s inability to effectively prepare for trial. If found to be more egregious, the late production allows for potentially exculpatory information to have been lost, depriving the defendant of his constitutional right to a fair trial.

Attorney Rosemary Scapicchio questions Norfolk County Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally on Monday, July 21, 2025.

Last month, as a result of the late disclosures, a request to reduce Mr. King’s bail was made, and subsequently allowed by the Court. Judge Michael Doolin granted Mr. King the opportunity to be released for the first time since he was arraigned on this case in 2021, reducing his ‘held without bail’ status to $100,000 cash bail. Just weeks later, the defense again sought another reduction in bail, this time with the assent of the Commonwealth, to a virtually unheard of amount for a First Degree Murder defendant - $2,500. Judge Doolin agreed to further reduce Mr. King’s bail to $10,000 cash, with GPS and home confinement as conditions of his release. The Court emphasized that this was based on the volume of the late discovery, despite his finding that the facts of the case, at least facially, appears to be strong for the Commonwealth.

The questioning was pointed, and at times, uncomfortable. It was also necessary. Necessary to ensure the system works. Necessary to ensure that every individual, whether they have the ability to fund a multi-million dollar defense or not, has the ability to hold the government to account. Necessary to ensure that individuals who are guilty of crimes don’t go free on legal technicalities due to shoddy police work. Necessary to ensure that defendants rights are not treated as merely words or sayings, but actual rights that are respected by all.

Whichever way the tower topples, questions of integrity harm the whole of our criminal justice system - which is to ensure accountability for those who do wrong in society, and to bring justice to those who have been harmed. Laziness in the system threatens innocent people, but it also often lets the guilty walk free.

The testimony of Adam Lally, and others, is set to resume on Tuesday, August 5th.