BOSTON — A round of new filings in federal court show that recently retired State Police Major Susan Anderson is adopting the same legal strategy as her former boss, the retired Massachusetts State Police Superintendent Colonel Richard D. McKeon, to fend off a scathing lawsuit filed by two state troopers.
But State Trooper Ryan Sceviour — who alleges the whitewashing of his arrest report of a prominent judge’s daughter was part of a politically-driven conspiracy, complete with tentacles he claims reach all the way up to Secretary of Public Safety Daniel Bennett’s office — now claims there’s additional damning evidence that has yet to be introduced.
The admission surfaced in his opposition, submitted Monday, to a motion for summary judgment filed Friday by Anderson. Anderson, like McKeon, is looking to convince Massachusetts U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. that Sceviour has failed to state a claim of constitutional abuse or unlawful professional hardship. Anderson is hoping that this defense, coupled with the standard qualified immunity defense being employed by both herself and McKeon, will prompt O’Toole to toss out Sceviour’s case after arguments are delivered in court on March 15.
Sceviour in his latest filing alleges Anderson “blatantly mischaracterizes the evidence in her favor,” while claiming that his side “has a wealth of evidence to support his claims, but has properly reserved argument on the evidence for the appropriate time.”
He also ripped Anderson’s version of the events that took place soon after his October arrest of Alli Bibaud as “piece-meal and slanted,” in addition to being “notably selective.”
Recently retired State Police Major Susan Anderson. (Facebook)
“For example, she claims to have acted properly but entirely ignores that she, Defendant McKeon, and the two other top officials in the State Police all retired as a result of their involvement in this conspiracy, with Major Anderson retiring just last week with a general as opposed to an honorable discharge,” Sceviour’s Monday filing states. “Of course, Defendant Anderson would have the Court believe that the sudden retirement of all four of the top officials in the State Police who were involved was a coincidence, serendipity if you will, and that they all shared a sudden urge to ‘spend more time with family’ while the Attorney General and State Ethics Commission investigate their criminal conduct.”
Sources close to the legal proceedings have confirmed that Risteen is identified in the case as a “John or Jane Doe.” His attorney, Joseph A. Padolsky of Boston, has yet to respond to a New Boston Post request for comment.
The case revolves around the Bibaud arrest report, which Sceviour claims he was ordered to alter because it involved Dudley District Court Timothy Bibaud’s daughter. According to Sceviour, days after he submitted his report — which included details such as a free admission from Bibaud that she used sex to obtain the heroin in her possession and a startling charge that Bibaud tried to offer sexual services to Sceviour in exchange for leniency, and eventually took to informing officers about her father’s powerful position as judge — he was ordered to scrub the embarrassing details, even though his direct supervisor had signed off on the report.
Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early. (Twitter)
Sceviour has claimed that his refusal to do so would have resulted in punishment. His case appears to depend on whether his superiors violated his constitutional rights. He has additionally claimed that Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early was “complicit” in the alleged conspiracy, a charge Early’s office has denied.
“Defendant Anderson argues that the conduct of the District Attorney and judicial officials involved was proper, relying on her own spin on the facts,” Sceviour’s Monday filing states. “The evidence discovered to date strongly suggests otherwise but is not appropriate to present at this time.”
State Trooper Ali Rei, a drug recognition expert who worked alongside Sceviour during the processing of Bibaud’s arrest, has filed a related lawsuit of her own.
The March 15 motion-to-dismiss arguments are slated to be heard at 2 p.m. inside Boston’s John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse.
Read Anderson’s motion for summary judgement, filed Friday:
