Grand jury investigating State Police recruit death
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'Mr. Meier has
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The Globe has confirmed that those who have been called to testify in the grand jury proceedings include State Police troopers related to the academy and investigation, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation. They, and a third person who confirmed the existence of the grand jury, spoke only on the condition of anonymity because grand jury proceedings are inherently secret.
State Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A lawyer for Delgado-Garcia has said the family wants closure in the case, answers about what happened, and assurances others will not meet the same fate.
The use of a grand jury with subpoena powers to obtain State Police documents and sworn testimony could arm Meier with a voluminous record of evidence to examine as he determines whether any criminal charges are warranted, or whether he would make any policy recommendations to the attorney general or State Police, said Daniel Conley, a former Suffolk district attorney who led the office when Meier was its homicide chief in the 2000s.
The call of the grand jury, Conley added, also shows Meier's willingness to use subpoena powers through the grand jury and seek sworn testimony from the State Police to gather the evidence he needs in his investigation.
Conley said he hasn't discussed this investigation with Meier, but he expects Meier's use of the grand jury follows some of the strategies they had their homicide prosecutors take in building cases in gangland killings. In those cases, witnesses often were most helpful shortly after a homicide but would sometimes back out or change their story as the case dragged on.
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'One of the strategies that we developed was to get people in front of the grand jury relatively quickly, to put them under oath, and to lock in their testimony,' he said. 'You can't say no to the grand jury.'
State grand juries consist of 23 people who hear evidence presented by a prosecutor. They're conducted behind closed doors, and various rules forbid disclosing grand jury testimony or speaking publicly about one while it is ongoing.
The grand jury can vote on whether there's enough evidence to find probable cause that a crime occurred and to indict someone. The threshold for an indictment is lower than a criminal conviction, which requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt. If a person is indicted, charges are filed in Superior Court, and proceedings are then generally public. At least 14 grand jurors need to vote in the affirmative to bring charges forward, according to state Trial Court procedures.
Joshua Levy, a former US attorney who is now in private practice, said grand jury investigations typically are used to build up and accumulate evidence against their intended targets, whatever that target may be. Anyone called before a grand jury can assert their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, but prosecutors routinely offer people immunity if they are brought before a grand jury, he said. And if you're offered immunity, you must testify or face the possibility of being criminally charged with contempt of court.
Throughout the proceedings, the grand jurors are able to ask questions of witnesses, often through the prosecutor. That's a good way, Levy said, of figuring out how a non-lawyer is viewing the evidence.
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'They take their role very seriously,' Levy said. 'They ask really good questions.'
At the time,
Several weeks ago,
Noble announced he had replaced the head of the State Police training academy in New Braintree and commissioned the International Association of Chiefs of Police to conduct an independent review of training practices. The assessment will focus on 'the relevance, efficacy, and safety of the
The announcement came amid wide-scale questioning by policing analysts and state lawmakers over the paramilitary-style structure of the academy following Delgado-Garcia's death. The academy's curriculum promotes a hierarchal structure, and it involves a rigid, stress-resilience training program that has led to numerous injuries in recent years.
In the past, the State Police has maintained that the rigid curriculum prepares troopers for the physical and emotional demands of the job, particularly in high-stress environments. But the
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The academy has a much
The problems at the academy stretch back decades. In 1985, 22-year-old State Police recruit James Whitehouse collapsed and died during a run. Three years later, a municipal police recruit, Timothy M. Shepard, 25,
Authorities
But the attorney general said the judge had reached the wrong conclusions and refused to bring charges. An appeals court later upheld the attorney general's decision.
In 2005, the agency shook up its academy leadership after recruits alleged they were forced to put their heads in a dirty toilet bowl. In 2022, trainees suffered blistered hands while doing bear crawls on hot concrete.
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After the death of Delgado-Garcia, similar questions were raised about the nature of the current curriculum of the academy. After his death, State Police suspended the boxing program.
Delgado-Garcia was a former victim witness advocate for the Worcester district attorney's office
Delgado-Garcia died just weeks before the end of the six-month training academy. He was sworn in as a trooper in the hours before his death.
Sean Cotter can be reached at
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