Sorry, not sorry: State police Col. Gilpin finally issues apology to trooper
After insisting all day the Massachusetts State Police did not apologize to a trooper paid $40,000 in a settlement over being forced to rewrite an arrest report about a judge’s daughter, the commander of the force apologized.
Col. Kerry Gilpin said through a spokesman Saturday the apology is for “the negative employee evaluation” stuck in the trooper’s file after the October 2017 clash over the police report.
“That is truly pathetic,” attorney Leon Kesten said about Gilpin’s reluctance to admit his client deserved an apology.
Kesten said Trooper Ryan Sceviour “stood up for honesty” when his superiors ordered him back into work two years ago to rewrite his report on the drunken and drugged driving arrest of Alli Bibaud — whose father, Timothy Bibaud, is a judge in Dudley District Court.
Sceviour, 29 at the time, objected to the rewrite and was reprimanded.
Gov. Charlie Baker praised Sceviour on Saturday, adding through a spokeswoman that he did not object to a letter sent by Gilpin as part of the settlement being considered an apology.
“Governor Baker and Colonel Gilpin have both stated the trooper followed protocol and should not have been asked to alter the arrest report, and these findings were supported in an independent investigation …” said spokeswoman Sarah Finlaw. “The administration is pleased this matter has been settled for Trooper Sceviour to reflect that he acted accordingly and acknowledges there was flawed judgment from his supervisor in this incident.”
Kesten said the state police paid $35,000 and the Worcester District Attorney’s Office $5,000 to the trooper.
Worcester DA Joseph Early Jr. did not issue an apology.
State police spokesman Dave Procopio told the Herald Saturday morning a story on the settlement “was incorrect in one important regard. The Colonel’s letter was not, and did not contain, an apology.”
He added: “Please publish a clarification.”
Saturday evening Procopio wrote in an email to the Herald: “We do not object to the letter being considered an apology for the unwarranted evaluation. As she stated, the Colonel wishes the Trooper continued success in service to the Department.”
The original police report — which launched the Troopergate scandal and resulted in the early retirement of several top state cops — included passages about Alli Bibaud offering sexual favors in exchange for heroin, as well as mentioning her father was a judge. Sceviour was ordered to take those passages out.
Bibaud’s arrest came after she crashed the car she was driving on Interstate 190 in Worcester.
Sceviour’s lawsuit filed in Suffolk Superior Court stated Early “initiated and directed” the plot to change the arrest report. Early told then-Col. Richard McKeon — a friend of his — that scrubbing those references from the report was “the appropriate thing to do,” according to an investigation by Attorney General Maura Healey.
McKeon and other top cops retired after news of the revision became public. Healey’s investigation did not recommend criminal charges.
Early was accused of violating Sceviour’s constitutional rights, conspiracy, defamation and inflicting emotional distress.
The case comes as the force is dealing with federal charges — and some guilty pleas — against more than 40 troopers for faking overtime shifts; a trooper accused of exposing himself to a woman at a concert in Foxboro this summer; and a statie accused of shooting at an ATV driver.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2qcaUJZ
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