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Judge moves Porter’s status conference review to May 13, postpones trial start date to Dec. 9

by | Mar 28, 2024 | Featured: News, News, Police & Fire

Former Hopkinton Police Department Deputy John “Jay” Porter appeared Thursday afternoon in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn for a 10-minute status conference review hearing. But because the judge who previously presided over the case was not returning to court until the following week, both attorneys agreed to reschedule the review to May 13 at 2 p.m. because of his familiarity with the case.

In light of the delay, Judge Laurence D. Pierce rescheduled Porter’s jury trial to Dec. 9 from Sept. 16 at the request of both attorneys, with a trial readiness conference to take place on Nov. 12.

Porter pleaded not guilty last May to three counts of child rape that the alleged survivor said occurred during his stint as a school resource officer while she was a Hopkinton High School sophomore.

Pierce questioned the attorneys as to whether all the discovery motions had been received.

“Right now, our understanding is that Judge [James] Budreau took a cell phone and did an in camera review of text messages between the complainant and the alleged person placing the message,” said Assistant District Attorney Maren Schrader.

She added that she believed she may be missing some of the messages. She was assigned to the case last week in the absence of Assistant District Attorney Thomas Brant and has been reviewing the evidence since that time.

She reviewed and copied the packet left with her by Brant and presented it to defense counsel Leonardo Angiulo, who is representing Porter, before the hearing began, except for a copy of the cell phone itself.

Because she said Budreau is expected to return to court next week, Schrader said, “If we could get in front of him, he should be able to approve everything and make a judgment as to whether there is any inculpatory or exculpatory information to be given to defense counsel and the commonwealth.”

Angiulo said he believed there were “some outstanding discovery issues.” He previously received an information packet in January and wanted to make sure he had a “full and complete copy of the file.”

“I think we still have a few things that we need to work out,” he added.

He agreed with the judge that Budreau should preside over the case. Pierce explained that Budreau is going to be transferred to the civil court from the criminal court when he returns. In light of his history with the Porter case, he would be able to return to criminal court in this instance.

Pierce said he “would have to leave it to the parties.” Both attorneys agreed.

While Angiulo said he did not expect to file any motions at the pretrial conference, he “is still working through the discovery process.”

“I want to go through the file and review everything to make sure defense counsel has everything he needs,” said Schraeder. “There have been a variety of different people who appear to have had their hands on [the case], and I want to make sure everything is all right.”

Pierce scheduled the status conference for May 13 at 2:30 p.m. Porter’s jury trial consequently was postponed until Dec. 9, with a trial readiness conference to take place on Nov. 12.

Both attorneys spoke outside the courtroom after the hearing concluded. Porter, dressed in a black suit and wearing glasses, left the courtroom with his wife.

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