Commonwealth v. Read — Trial ArchiveMichael Trotta - Direct/Cross
179 linesJUDGE CANNONE: No problem. Okay, your next witness, Mr. Lally?
MR. LALLY: Yes, Your Honor. The Commonwealth calls Mr. Michael Trotta to the stand.
COURT CLERK: Mr. Trotta, raise your right hand. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
MR. TROTTA: Yes, sir.
JUDGE CANNONE: All right, Mr. Lally, whenever you're ready.
MR. LALLY: Thank you. Good afternoon, sir. Could you please state your name and spell your last name for the jury?
MR. TROTTA: Michael Trotta. T-R-O-T-T-A.
MR. LALLY: And where do you live, sir?
MR. TROTTA: Sharon, Massachusetts.
MR. LALLY: How long have you lived in Sharon?
MR. TROTTA: Since '82.
MR. LALLY: And what do you do for work, sir?
MR. TROTTA: I am the superintendent of public works for the town of Canton.
MR. LALLY: And how long have you held that position as superintendent of public works?
MR. TROTTA: Since 2003.
MR. LALLY: And did you work for the town of Canton prior to 2003?
MR. TROTTA: No.
MR. LALLY: Now, with regard to being the superintendent of Public Works, can you describe to the jury what your duties and responsibilities are when it comes to that work?
MR. TROTTA: Typical management duties of staff — controlling, directing, working on the budget, working on scheduling, long-term scheduling, 5 to 10 year capital planning, overall operations, the day-to-day operations — what it takes to maintain a water system, a sewer system, a road system.
MR. LALLY: Now, if I could turn your attention back to late January, early February of 2022 — at some point in early February, were you contacted by a trooper in regard to a blizzard that had happened the week before?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. LALLY: And do you recall who that trooper was, or how they contacted you?
MR. TROTTA: I believe it was Michael Proctor, and I believe the contact was by phone.
MR. LALLY: Now, with reference to that trooper — is that someone that you knew, or had spoken to before in any way?
MR. TROTTA: No.
MR. LALLY: And prior to that date, did you know John O'Keefe or Karen Read, or anybody?
MR. TROTTA: No.
MR. LALLY: And as far as anybody within the Albert family within the town of Canton — were you familiar with them? Did you know them at the time?
MR. TROTTA: No.
MR. LALLY: Now, when you were contacted in early February of 2022 regarding the blizzard the week before, what kind of information were they looking for?
MR. TROTTA: He wanted to know what the procedure was when we prepare and staff a snowstorm.
MR. LALLY: And if you could explain to the jury — what was the procedure at that time, and what was the makeup of what Canton DPW would do with regard to this?
MR. TROTTA: Well, the town is divided up into — I believe — 29 plow routes. Several main routes and side routes. The routes are generally somewhere between 3 miles and 3 and a half miles long. Back then we had 39 pieces of our own equipment and probably 30-something private plow trucks. We try very hard to have two trucks on a route, but we generally don't get enough. So we try to have a town truck on a route with a private plow on a route. The private plow is procured through a bid process — they have to have a contract, they have to have insurance, liability insurance, and they have to show that they've paid their taxes to the state — and that they have workers' comp, and they have a contract with the town.
MR. TROTTA: Then the operations manager is in charge of the onsite — boots on the ground, if you want to call it that. He'll assign the specific truck and the private contractor to a route, generally the day before, maybe 12, 18 hours before. The two of us talk, we schedule — we try to schedule the overtime so that you're not going home at 3:00 and then you're getting woken up at 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning to come back. We like to schedule it so when the guys go home they know when they're going to come back. To the best of our ability, that's what we'll do. We'll tell the contractors when they are expected. And generally if we're plowing, it starts with a sanding operation, so we would have a sanding fleet which is maybe a dozen trucks.
MR. TROTTA: They'll come in early, and then the rest of the Public Works people come in at a scheduled time. And so there'd be about — and correct me if I'm wrong — there'd be about 30-something trucks that were sort of DPW trucks. A few more. I'm not sure the exact number; it's probably 37 or 38, because that counts sidewalk plows too. So there may be — I think there's three sidewalk plows, so there's probably 34 or 35, we'll say, between medium-sized trucks and the big construction trucks. That was sort of my next question. As far as the DPW trucks are concerned, do they vary in size? Or what is sort of the range and size of the town trucks?
MR. TROTTA: They'll go from a pickup — two-ton pickup, F-150 or F-250 Ford, if you're familiar with that — to a medium-duty, 20,000- to 22,000-pound truck, up to our large construction truck, which is generally 26,000–28,000 pounds. The large truck is a six-wheel truck.
MR. LALLY: And as far as the other trucks — the private ones — those would sort of be subcontracted out through the bidding process. Is that correct?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. LALLY: And with the range as far as the size of those trucks, would that be similar or something different?
MR. TROTTA: If they are pickup trucks, they're usually lighter pickup trucks. There may be a couple of front-end loaders. There's probably — I don't think we have — I don't think there's any big heavy-duty trucks, but there're probably pickups, might be a few — a couple of jeeps, pickups. Again, a medium duty like an F-350 or F-450 pickup — those are Fords. And loaders.
MR. LALLY: Now with respect to questions — or what you were asked about by the trooper — was there a specific sort of street or plow route that the trooper was inquiring about?
MR. TROTTA: I believe he asked who was down — that's Fairview Road, down in the Cedarcrest area, that's what we call it. I believe that's what he asked me.
MR. LALLY: May I approach?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. LALLY: I'm handing you a document. Just look at that, look up when you're finished. Do you recognize that, sir?
MR. TROTTA: Yes, sir.
MR. LALLY: And what do you recognize it to be?
MR. TROTTA: This would be a plow plan for that day. It's a plow plan for the season, but it is particularly a plow plan for that storm of January 28th through January 29th of 2022.
MR. LALLY: Thank you. May I — [unintelligible] — introduce in a minute. Okay.
MR. YANNETTI: I have no objection.
JUDGE CANNONE: Thank you. [unintelligible] — this has now been marked as Exhibit 109.
MR. LALLY: Just have a couple questions for you in regard to what's listed there. So with regard to the top of the page, there's a listing as far as 1/28/2022, Boulevard, 11 p.m. Do you see that?
MR. TROTTA: Yes, sir.
MR. LALLY: And what does that mean, sir?
MR. TROTTA: That means that the first group of workforce, which would be the Sanders, were scheduled to come in at 11:00 that night.
MR. LALLY: Now as far as the next entry going across the top of the page, it has 1/29/2022. Is that correct?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. LALLY: And as far as what's listed as "WSBM" at 2 a.m., what does that mean?
MR. TROTTA: W and S would be Water and Sewer, BM would be Building Maintenance, Rec would be Recreation, and they are scheduled — that would be the balance of Canton's workforce. They were scheduled to come in at 2:00 in the morning.
MR. LALLY: And that 2 a.m., would that be at the same sort of central location?
MR. TROTTA: Yes, they would all report to the Bolivar Street garage. I think that address is 150 Bolivar Street.
MR. LALLY: Now as far as the next listing, it states contractors at 3:00 a.m. Is that correct?
MR. TROTTA: Yes, sir.
MR. LALLY: And who's that referring to?
MR. TROTTA: That would refer to all the private contractors that would be plowing that day. So again, it's staged. Sort of the last notation on the top of that — it indicates out at 5:00 a.m., 1/30/2022. Is that correct? That would be when we completed and everybody went home.
MR. LALLY: Now with reference to the Cedarcrest neighborhood, or the area that would include Fairview Road — there's different route numbers that are assigned. Is that correct?
MR. TROTTA: Yes, sir.
MR. LALLY: And which route number would include that Fairview area?
MR. TROTTA: That would be lower Cedarcrest, number 11. And from that, that would include lower Cedarcrest, Kings, Fairview, and Spring.
MR. LALLY: Correct?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. LALLY: And as far as the vehicles and the vehicle types that were assigned to that route, pursuant to this list — what types were they, and who is assigned?
MR. TROTTA: Truck 30, which would be a Town of Canton truck — that's a 4300 International. Brian Loughran would be the driver. The 4300 International is a medium-duty truck. The next up would be a 7400 International — that would be the large construction truck. And there is — excuse me — a by-the-yard 4x6, which I believe is a small one-ton dump. That would have been the private contractor that was on the route with the city truck.
MR. LALLY: And so that Truck 30 — the 4300 International — is that a bigger truck or a smaller truck than the one-ton?
MR. TROTTA: Yes, it's a larger truck. It's like a 3- to 5-cubic-yard truck. And the large truck is like an 8- to 10-cubic-yard dump. That's a dump truck.
MR. LALLY: And as far as the height on that — that International — would that be — how much would it be taller or shorter than, say, a one-ton dump?
MR. TROTTA: If you want — I would estimate that if you're sitting in the driver's seat of a car, you're probably 2½ feet. When you're sitting in the driver's seat of a one-ton, you're somewhere around 3 feet. When you're sitting in the driver's seat of this 4300, you're probably somewhere around 4 to 4½ feet. And when you're sitting in a big construction truck, you're another 8 to 10 inches — 5 feet plus.
MR. LALLY: Now when you're driving — or when the plow drivers are plowing the roads, excuse me — what, if any, sort of instructions are they given as far as how to first start plowing the roads when they first come upon — sort of dropping the plows and going?
MR. TROTTA: If we're in a plowable situation — which is kind of hard to define, it's generally when we feel that traffic is impeded or may not be able to safely get up and down the street, so that's probably anywhere around 2 inches — they're instructed, and we're expecting the heavy snow, they're instructed to plow the middle of the road, keep the middle of the road open. And as they make their way through the route, they're supposed to push back a little bit. If they try to clean a whole lane and then come back and do the lane again, generally they end up being in trouble and they can't keep up if it's a heavy snow. So again, they're instructed to plow the middle of the road, to keep the roads open as much as they can before they do their finished cleanup.
MR. LALLY: Can I have one moment?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. LALLY: Thank you, sir. No further questions.
JUDGE CANNONE: All right, Mr. Yannetti.
MR. YANNETTI: Good afternoon, Mr. Trotta. Michael Proctor called you on February 3rd of 2022 — does that sound right?
MR. TROTTA: It may be. I'm not sure of the date.
MR. YANNETTI: It was within days of the big snowstorm. Correct?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: You knew that he was investigating the death of John O'Keefe, which had occurred on January 29th. Correct?
MR. TROTTA: I did not know that.
MR. YANNETTI: Had you heard that there was a police officer who was found dead on the lawn of another police officer in Canton?
MR. TROTTA: Well — yes, I knew. It's fairly big news at the time, correct.
MR. YANNETTI: And were you aware that that was why Michael Proctor was calling you — related to that investigation?
MR. TROTTA: After he called and identified himself, he said that is why he was calling. Of course.
MR. YANNETTI: Now, you spoke with him over the phone only. Correct?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: He never came down to the DPW to meet you in person. Correct?
MR. TROTTA: Not me. No.
MR. YANNETTI: And he never asked to interview any of your employees. Correct?
MR. TROTTA: I — we may have discussed who was on that route and who plowed, but I'm not sure at that time if he had told me he was going to go talk to anybody else.
MR. YANNETTI: Oh. So it's your testimony that you may have told him the identity of the plow driver when you spoke with him on February 3rd over the phone?
MR. TROTTA: I may have, but I am not
MR. YANNETTI: — you don't have a memory of him asking you who the plow driver was?
MR. TROTTA: He asked? No, no. I don't have a memory of his exact questions.
MR. YANNETTI: But leaving aside the exact wording of his questions, uh, it's fair to say you don't have a memory of him asking you who plowed Fairview Road on January 29th. Is that fair to say?
MR. TROTTA: Um, he asked me about — I believe he asked me about this plow list, about the — what the plow list — this plow list, right?
MR. YANNETTI: But on the plow list is the name by the yard, correct?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: All right. There's also, to the left of that, an indication of the name of the plow driver, and it's just a first name and a last initial, correct?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: Uh, it doesn't spell out the whole last name, does it?
MR. TROTTA: No.
MR. YANNETTI: But you know the full last name, correct?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: Uh, you have a limited number of employees, right? It's not a thousand-person company, right?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: All right. And you're well familiar that Brian L. is Brian Loughran, right?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: Um, as you sit here today, do you have any memory of whether the name Brian Loughran was brought up during that phone call with Michael Proctor?
MR. TROTTA: Um, I may have said to him that's who B.L. was, but I did refer — I believe I referred him to the operations manager to double-check who was on plowing that day.
MR. YANNETTI: Okay. You say you may have mentioned the name Brian L. — — or Brian Loughran. But again, I'm just trying to drill down on what your memory is. Do you have a memory one way or the other as to whether the name Brian Loughran came up in that conversation?
MR. TROTTA: If you ask me, do I remember 100%? No.
MR. YANNETTI: Okay. Uh, in any case, uh, Trooper Proctor — Michael Proctor — never asked to speak with Brian Loughran when he talked to you over the phone?
MR. TROTTA: He did not ask me, no.
JUDGE CANNONE: I'm going to allow the question and answer.
MR. YANNETTI: And how — how short was that phone call with Michael Proctor?
MR. TROTTA: Um, if I tell you, you're going to ask me how do I — know — I would say, um, a few minutes.
JUDGE CANNONE: Whatever a few minutes is, I'm going to accept that answer.
MR. YANNETTI: Uh, and you would agree with me — — and, uh, by the way, you were trying to be helpful, correct?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: After that couple or three-minute phone conversation, you'll agree with me that Michael Proctor never followed up again with you personally?
MR. TROTTA: Um, that's a good question. I, I am not sure.
MR. YANNETTI: Okay. Well, I'd like to direct your attention to about a week and a half later — uh, specifically the date of February 14th of 2022, which maybe you don't remember the precise date — but around that time period, um, you came into work around that time period and you learned that a defense investigator named Paul Makowski had left his business card for you with somebody on the DPW staff, correct?
MR. LALLY: Objection.
JUDGE CANNONE: Sustained. Ask it differently.
MR. YANNETTI: Yes.
MR. TROTTA: Um, I do not, sir.
JUDGE CANNONE: That means you don't answer that question. I think he's going to ask — when that's an appropriate one for you to answer. Okay. All right.
MR. YANNETTI: Do you recall when you came into work receiving a business card from Paul Makowski?
MR. TROTTA: No.
MR. YANNETTI: Do you recall calling Paul Makowski back?
MR. TROTTA: No.
MR. YANNETTI: Do you recall speaking to any investigator from the defense at any point within a couple of weeks after you spoke to Trooper Proctor?
MR. TROTTA: No.
MR. YANNETTI: Do you deny telling Paul Makowski to call Bill Walsh?
MR. LALLY: Objection.
JUDGE CANNONE: Sustained. Who is Bill Walsh?
MR. TROTTA: Uh, Billy Walsh is the operations manager — so, the highway department supervisor.
MR. YANNETTI: Yes. Uh, did the name Bill Walsh ever come — — up in your conversation with Michael Proctor back in February, on February 3rd?
MR. LALLY: Objection.
MR. YANNETTI: Did that name come up when you first spoke with Trooper Proctor?
MR. TROTTA: Um, again, I believe I mentioned it, but, um, I am not positive.
MR. YANNETTI: All right. And, uh, is it fair to say that the Canton DPW has their own plowing and sanding trucks?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: Uh, does one of them in particular have a nickname?
MR. TROTTA: Uh, if they do, I don't know what they are.
MR. YANNETTI: Have you heard one of your trucks being called "Frankenstein"?
MR. LALLY: Objection.
JUDGE CANNONE: Sustained.
MR. YANNETTI: You don't drive the trucks, correct?
MR. TROTTA: No, I do not.
MR. YANNETTI: Uh, but Brian Loughran does?
PARENTHETICAL: [voice]
JUDGE CANNONE: : The witness, or the sidebar?
PARENTHETICAL: [voice]
JUDGE CANNONE: : The witness. Yes, sorry.
MR. TROTTA: Yes, he does.
MR. YANNETTI: And Brian Loughran was driving the truck that plowed Fairview on January 29th of 2022?
MR. TROTTA: Check. Let me have —
MR. YANNETTI: — a moment.
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes. It'll stand. The answer will stand. Mr. I —
MR. YANNETTI: Um, do you have reading glasses as well?
MR. TROTTA: Well, I have — yes.
MR. YANNETTI: You're able to read the exhibit that you have in front of you?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: I'm handing you another document, sir, and I would ask if you would compare that document with the document you have in front of you and tell the jury if it's the same document or not.
MR. TROTTA: It appears to be.
MR. YANNETTI: Does it appear to be identical?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: I will take the one back that does not have the exhibit sticker on it. Thank you, sir. And I have no further questions.