A Norfolk Superior Court judge ordered prosecutors in the case of Myles King to finish turning over all the evidence in their possession by the end of September, as a defense lawyer for King continues to push to dismiss the case entirely.
King is charged with murder in connection with the death of Marquis Simmons in July 2021 in Milton. His case has taken a turn in recent months as his lawyer, Rosemary Scapicchio, has sought to dismiss it over what she claims is the late turnover of key evidence by prosecutors.
Norfolk County prosecutors have continued disclosing evidence in the case, much of which Scapicchio claims is new, as recently as July, despite King being indicted in 2021. His trial was scheduled for September, but a judge took the case off the trial list and King has been out on bail since June.
Scapicchio filed the motion to dismiss in May, but supplemented it this week based on the new evidence. Prosecutors asked Judge Peter Krupp to deny the initial motion, but Krupp declined to do so.
“If [recent] notices of discovery were one item or two items, I would get it, I would understand the argument,” he said. “But they’re voluminous, they’re pages and pages and pages of stuff.”
“This is all newly discovered stuff that, if it was available, should have been produced a while ago,” he added.
Now, Krupp has set a September deadline for prosecutors to finish turning over all the evidence they have, which will allow Scapicchio to give him a better understanding of what evidence was turned over late and why she believes it prejudices King.
Outside the courthouse on Tuesday, she described Krupp’s order as a major step forward.
“We made significant progress today,” she said, explaining that once prosecutors file what is known as a certificate of compliance, she can give Krupp an inventory of all the new evidence and an explanation as to why it is prejudicial. “We’re in a better position than we were when we first walked in this court.”
Krupp set an October hearing for arguments on Scapicchio’s motion to dismiss. At that hearing, he said, both sides should be ready to set a trial date.
That means King almost certainly won’t go to trial until 2026, despite being indicted in 2021.
“It’s all at the fault of the commonwealth,” Scapicchio said. “This all lies on their lap because they didn’t do their job.”
The motion to dismiss King’s case was the subject of a brief evidentiary hearing last month that saw Norfolk County prosecutor Adam Lally, the original assistant district attorney in King’s case, take the stand. Scapicchio has also subpoenaed former Massachusetts State Police trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in King’s case, to testify at that hearing.
It’s not clear at this point when that hearing will resume, but Scapicchio argued it was a necessary step to get to the bottom of why some evidence wasn’t turned over for years. It was only after a new prosecutor took over the case that Scapicchio began receiving some evidence, like search warrants obtained by Proctor, even though prosecutors are required to disclose that material.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Oct. 31.
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