Commonwealth v. Read — Trial ArchiveMichael Trotta — Direct/Cross
220 linesWhereupon, MICHAEL TROTTA having been first duly sworn, was examined and testified under oath as follows:
JUDGE CANNONE: All right. Mr. Lally, whenever you're ready.
MR. LALLY: Thank you.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. LALLY:
MR. LALLY: 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, Mass.
MR. LALLY: And how long have you lived in Sharon?
MR. TROTTA: How long in Sharon?
MR. LALLY: Yes.
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 the 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 sort of what are your duties and responsibilities when it comes to that work?
MR. TROTTA: Typical management duties of staffing, controlling, directing, working on the budget, working on scheduling, long-term scheduling five to 10 years, capital planning, overall operations, the day-to-day operations, what it takes to maintain a water system, the road system.
MR. LALLY: Now, with reference to -- 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 Porter, and I believe the contact was by phone.
MR. LALLY: Now, with reference to that trooper, is that someone that you knew or you had spoken to before in any way?
MR. TROTTA: No.
MR. LALLY: And, prior to that day, did you know John O'Keefe or Karen Read or anybody --
MR. TROTTA: No.
MR. LALLY: And, as far as anybody within an Albert family within the town of Canton, were you familiar with them? Did you know them at that time?
MR. TROTTA: No.
MR. LALLY: Now, when you were contacted in that early February of 2022 in regard to the blizzard the week before, what, if anything, was the trooper asking you? 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 sort of what is the procedure or what -- at that time, what was the procedure and what was sort of the makeup of what Canton DPW would do with regard to a snowstorm?
MR. TROTTA: Well, we have -- the two is divided up into, I believe, 29 plow routes, several main routes and side routes. The routes are generally somewhere between three miles and three and a half miles long, and there's -- we have 30, I think back then we had, 39 pieces of our own and probably 30-something private plow trucks. We try very hard to have two trucks ona route, but we generally don't get enough. So if we -- 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 worker's comp. and they have a contract with the town. 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 o'clock and then you're getting woken up at 1:00 or 2:00 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 will do. We will tell the contractors when they are expected. And, generally, if we are plowing, it starts with a sanding operation. So we would have our sanding lead, which is maybe a dozen trucks. They'll come in early. And then the rest of the public works people come in at a scheduled time.
MR. LALLY: And so there would be about -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- there would be about 30-some-odd trucks that were sort of DPW trucks?
MR. TROTTA: A few more. I'm not sure of 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.
MR. LALLY: And 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 in size of the town trucks?
MR. TROTTA: They will go from a pickup, a two-ton pickup, F-150 or F-250 Ford, if you're familiar with that, toa medium-duty 20,000 or 22,000 pound truck up to a large construction truck, which is generally 26-28,000 pounds. The large truck is a six-wheel truck.
MR. LALLY: And, as far as the other trucks, the private ones, those are sort of subcontracted out through the bidding process; is that correct?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. LALLY: And would the range, as far as the size of those trucks, would that be similar or something different?
MR. TROTTA: They are pickup trucks, usually lighter pickup trucks. There may be a couple of front-end loaders. There's probably -- I don't think there is any big, heavy-duty trucks, but they're probably pickups. There 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 at Fairview or down in Cedarcrest area. That's what we call it. I believe that's what he asked me.
MR. LALLY: Your Honor, may I approach?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
BY MR. LALLY:
MR. LALLY: Sir, I'm showing you a document. If you would just look at that and look up when you're finished.
MR. TROTTA: (Witness complies.)
MR. LALLY: 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 date. It's a plow plan for the season, but it is particularly a plow plan for that storm of January 28th through January 29 of 2022.
MR. LALLY: Thank you.
MR. LALLY: May I approach again, Your Honor?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. LALLY: The Commonwealth would seek to introduce this as the next exhibit.
MR. YANNETTI: I have no objection.
JUDGE CANNONE: Thank you.
(Whereupon, document was entered and marked Exhibit No. 109 in Evidence.)
COURT REPORTER: Exhibit 109.
BY MR. LALLY:
MR. LALLY: Mr. Trotter, when it comes to that form before you that's now been marked as Exhibit 109, I just have a couple of questions for you in regard to what's listed there. So with regard to the top of the page, there is a listing as far as 1/28/2022, Bolivar, 11:00 p.m. Do you see that?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
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 o'clock that night.
MR. LALLY: Now, as far as -- the next entry going across the top of the page has 1/29/2022; is that correct?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. LALLY: And, as far as what's listed as "W&S/BM/REC@2:00 a.m.," what does that mean?
MR. TROTTA: "W&S" would be water and sewer. "BM" would be building maintenance. "REC" would be the rec. And they are scheduled. That would be the balance of the Canton's workforce. They were scheduled to come in at 2:00 o'clock in the morning.
MR. LALLY: And that 2:00 a.m., would that be at the same sort of central location on Bolivar?
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 is that referring to?
MR. TROTTA: That would refer to all of the private contractors that would be plowing that day. So again, it's staged.
MR. LALLY: And sort of the last sort of notation on the top of that, it indicates, "Out at 5:00 a.m., 1/30/2022"; is that correct?
MR. TROTTA: 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.
MR. LALLY: And which route number would include Fairview?
MR. TROTTA: That would be lower Cedarcrest, No. ll.
MR. LALLY: And from that, that would include lower Cedarcrest, Kings, Fairview and Spring, 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 was assigned to it?
MR. TROTTA: Truck 30, which would be a town of Canton truck. That's a 43 International. Brian Loughran would be the driver. The 43 Intentional is a medium- duty truck. The next up would be a 7400 International. That would be the large construction truck. And there is an absolute -- excuse me -- a By-the-Yard 4x6, which is -- I believe that's 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 Intentional, is that a bigger truck or a smaller truck than the one- ton?
MR. TROTTA: Than the, please, again?
MR. LALLY: The one-ton.
MR. TROTTA: Than the one-ton?
MR. LALLY: Yes.
MR. TROTTA: It's a larger truck. It's like a three- to five-cubic-yard truck and the large truck is like an eight- to 10-cubic yard. It's a dump. It's a dump truck.
MR. LALLY: And, as far as the height on 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 two and a half feet. When you're sitting in the driver's seat of a one-ton, it's somewhere around three feet. When you're sitting in the driver's seat of this 4300, you're probably somewhere around four to four and a half feet. And, when you're sitting in the big construction truck, you're another eight to 10 inches, five feet, five feet plus.
MR. LALLY: Now, when you're driving or when the plow drivers are plowing the routes or 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 to work?
MR. TROTTA: If we are in a plowable situation which is kind of hard to define, it's generally when we feel that traffic is impeded or it may not be able to safely get up and down the streets. So that's probably anywhere around two inches. They are instructed -- and we're expecting the heavy -- they are 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 are 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 they're having 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 finish cleanup.
MR. LALLY: If I may have one moment, Your Honor?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. LALLY: Thank you, sir. No further questions.
JUDGE CANNONE: All right. Mr. Yannetti?
MR. YANNETTI: Thank you, Your Honor.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. YANNETTI:
MR. YANNETTI: Good afternoon, Mr. Trotta. Sir, 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, I knew, yes. I knew --
MR. YANNETTI: It was fairly big news at the time, correct?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
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.
MR. YANNETTI: Of course. 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: That, 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 that 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 on the phone?
MR. TROTTA: I may have, but I am not positive.
MR. YANNETTI: You don't have a memory of him asking you who the plow driver was?
MR. TROTTA: He asked -- no. I don't have a memory of his exact questions.
MR. YANNETTI: But leaving aside the exact wording of his questions, 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: He asked me about -- I believe he asked me about this plow list.
MR. YANNETTI: About what, the plow list?
MR. TROTTA: This plow list.
MR. YANNETTI: Right. But on the plow list there's 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: 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: You have a limited number of employees, right? It's not a 1,000-person company, right?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: And you're well familiar that Brian L. is Brian Loughran, right?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: 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: 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., 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 are asking me do I remember 100 percent, no.
MR. YANNETTI: Okay. In any case, Trooper Proctor, Michael Proctor, never asked to speak with Brian Loughran when he talked to you over the phone, correct?
MR. TROTTA: He did not ask me. No.
MR. YANNETTI: How short was that phone call with Michael Proctor?
MR. TROTTA: If I tell you, you're going to ask me how do I know for sure.
MR. YANNETTI: I may.
MR. TROTTA: I would say a few minutes, whatever a few minutes is.
MR. YANNETTI: I'm going to accept that answer. And you would agree with me that -- and, 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: That's a good question. I am not sure.
MR. YANNETTI: Okay. Well, I'd like to direct your attention to about a week and a half later, specifically, the date of February 14th of 2022, which maybe you don't remember the precise date, but around that time period. You came into work around that time period and you learned that a defense investigator named Paul Mackowski had left his business card for you with somebody on the DPW staff, correct?
MR. LALLY: Objection.
JUDGE CANNONE: Sustained. Ask a different question.
MR. TROTTA: I do not --
JUDGE CANNONE: Sir, don't answer that question. I think he's going to ask one that is an appropriate one for you to answer. Okay?
MR. TROTTA: All right.
BY MR. YANNETTI:
MR. YANNETTI: Do you recall when you came into work receiving a business card from Paul Mackowski?
MR. TROTTA: No.
MR. YANNETTI: Do you recall calling Paul Mackowski 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 your spoke to Trooper Proctor?
MR. TROTTA: No.
MR. YANNETTI: Do you deny telling Paul Mackowski to call Bill Walsh?
MR. LALLY: Objection.
JUDGE CANNONE: Sustained.
BY MR. YANNETTI:
MR. YANNETTI: Who is Bill Walsh?
MR. TROTTA: Billy Walsh is the operations manager.
MR. YANNETTI: Is he the highway department supervisor?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: Did the name Bill Walsh ever come up in your conversation with Michael Proctor back on February 3rd?
MR. LALLY: Objection.
JUDGE CANNONE: Did that name come up when you first spoke with Trooper Proctor?
MR. TROTTA: Again, I believe I mentioned it, but I am not positive.
BY MR. YANNETTI:
MR. YANNETTI: All right. And is it fair to say that the Canton DPW has their own plowing and sanding trucks?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: Does one of them in particular have a nickname?
MR. TROTTA: 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.
BY MR. YANNETTI:
MR. YANNETTI: You don't drive the trucks, correct?
MR. TROTTA: No, I do not.
MR. YANNETTI: But Brian Loughran does?
MR. TROTTA: Yes, he does.
MR. YANNETTI: And Brian Loughran was driving the truck that plowed Fairview on January 29th of 2022?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. LALLY: Objection.
MR. YANNETTI: If I may have a moment?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes. The answer will stand.
MR. YANNETTI: May I approach?
JUDGE CANNONE: The witness or the sidebar?
MR. YANNETTI: The witness.
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: Sorry.
BY MR. YANNETTI:
MR. YANNETTI: Do you have reading glasses, as well?
MR. TROTTA: Well, I have -- yes.
MR. YANNETTI: Are you able to read the exhibit that you have in front of you?
MR. TROTTA: Yes.
MR. YANNETTI: Terrific. I am 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: Okay. I will take the one back that does not have the exhibit sticker on it. Thank you, Sir. And I have no further questions. Thank you.
JUDGE CANNONE: Any followup, Mr. Lally?
MR. LALLY: No, Your Honor, but may I just retrieve the exhibit?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes. All right, Mr. Trotta. You are all set, sir. Thank you very much.
(Whereupon, the witness is excused.)
JUDGE CANNONE: Do you have another witness here, Mr. Lally?
MR. LALLY: Yes, Your Honor.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay. Your next witnesses, please.
MR. LALLY: Your Honor, the Commonwealth would call Mr. Louis Jutras to the stand.