BOSTON (WHDH) - A state trooper has filed a lawsuit against the Massachusetts State Police, claiming he was ordered to change an arrest report that involved the daughter of a judge.
The trooper arrested the woman near Worcester back in October, charging her with driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. According to the lawsuit, the woman told the trooper her father was a judge.
Two days after he filed the arrest report, the trooper said top command told him to erase vulgar comments in the report about how the woman told him she obtained the drugs. The trooper said he was told the changes were “ordered by the colonel.”
“We allege in our complaint, that this was a plan to improperly tamper with court documents,” said Leonard Kesten, the trooper’s attorney.
“The revision consisted only of removal of a sensationalistic, directly-quoted statement by the defendant, which made no contribution to proving the elements of the crimes with which she was charged,” State Police said in a statement. “Inclusion of an unnecessary sensationalistic statement does not meet the report-writing standards required by the department.”
Gov. Charlie Baker said he would not comment on possibly putting the colonel on leave until the review is completed. He said he did not want to rush to judgement.
“It’s very important that we make sure all of the facts were vetted and determined before we make decisions about issues like this,” said Baker.
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