Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney is heading to trial on December 7, 2026, and it looks bigger than it did a week ago. At a trial readiness conference on Tuesday, September 29, his lawyers asked to combine his two witness intimidation cases into one trial, which his defense team says will now happen. His jury will come from Norfolk County, the county where the Karen Read case was tried. And the special prosecutor told the judge he is prepared to go to trial without the contents of Kearney’s phones, the evidence the two sides have fought over for two years.
No mainstream outlet covered the hearing. This account is based on a recording of the hearing streamed from the courtroom by independent journalist Grant Smith Ellis, which we transcribed; a press conference afterward with Kearney’s lawyers, which we also transcribed; and posts by Kearney and others who attended. Parts of the courtroom audio are unclear, and we note where. Kearney is presumed innocent of every charge.
The cases
As we laid out in our Turtleboy profile, Kearney faces two pending witness intimidation indictments, both assigned to Judge Christopher Belezos and prosecuted by special prosecutor Robert Cosgrove:
- The 2023 indictment, originally 16 counts of witness intimidation, conspiracy to intimidate witnesses and picketing a witness, arising from his coverage of and protests over the Karen Read case. Ten counts remain.
- The 2025 indictment, two counts of witness intimidation, arising from his March 2025 remarks into the security camera at D&E Pizza & Subs in Canton, owned by Read-case witness Chris Albert.
Witness intimidation under G.L. c. 268, § 13B carries up to 10 years in state prison, or up to two and a half years in a house of correction, and a fine.
What happened in court
A Norfolk County jury, a Boston courtroom. “I did inquire with the parties as to their desire for a Norfolk County jury and a Suffolk County jury,” the judge said, according to our transcript. “The answer for both parties is … Norfolk County jury.” The jury pool will come from Norfolk County, but “case will still be tried here,” in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston. “You’re entitled to a Norfolk County jury. Both parties … desire it.”
Kearney explained the choice on X: most defense lawyers would prefer a Suffolk jury, he wrote, but he believes Norfolk voters’ rejection of District Attorney Michael Morrissey’s preferred successor shows a Norfolk jury will acquit him.
The phones. The judge asked about the “taint team,” a separate team of prosecutors or agents that screens seized material for privileged content before the trial prosecutors see it, reviewing Kearney’s phones. Asked whether that would be an impediment to the December trial, the answer on the recording was: “Could be.” Several people who attended, including Smith Ellis and Kearney, reported that Cosgrove told the judge he would go to trial with or without the phone evidence. The recording at that point is not clear enough for us to quote him directly.
Outside court, Kearney’s lawyer Mark Bederow said Cosgrove had not literally abandoned the phones: “What he said was that in the event that that taint team issue was not resolved, that he would forego it and plow forward to trial without it.” Co-counsel Timothy Bradl called that “burying the lead”: “After all the fighting we’ve done for two years … now they’re willing to just throw it out the window to go to trial.” Bederow added that it “tell[s] you how important they view or don’t view the evidence that may be on those devices.”
Joining the two cases. The judge said he had received the defense’s motion to join the cases “last night.” Cosgrove’s response is not audible on the recording. Kearney wrote that Cosgrove did not oppose it, and Bederow said afterward, “Those cases will now be tried together. They have the same witnesses, the same general theories.” Under Mass. R. Crim. P. 9(a), when a defendant is charged with related offenses, “either party may move for joinder,” and “the trial judge shall join the charges for trial unless he determines that joinder is not in the best interests of justice.”
Why the defense wants it: one trial instead of two, and, Kearney wrote, the chance to put Colin Albert on the stand in the same proceeding and to introduce other events outside D&E Pizza that might not otherwise come in.
Michael Proctor. The defense wants the text messages of the former State Police trooper who led the Read investigation. The judge noted that, given recent events involving Proctor, it was “unlikely that [he’d] even be available” as a witness: “So it may be that this is all a moot issue.” When the defense raised the idea of immunity, the judge answered with a joke about needing sign-off from a dozen law enforcement agencies. Bederow said afterward that Proctor “has manifested a privilege, a Fifth Amendment privilege, that’s been accepted by the court in Norfolk Superior,” but that “the messages … they’re coming to us.”
Video compilations. Bradl told the court the Commonwealth intends to introduce “video compilations of our client” from his podcast and asked for a deadline to receive them. The prosecutor said he plans to use portions, not the many hours of full episodes. The judge set a date of “the 16th” for the compilations and “the 17th” for motions in limine. Smith Ellis reported motions in limine are due November 17.
The dates
- November 16: Commonwealth’s video compilations to the defense (as we understand the judge’s order).
- November 17: motions in limine due.
- December 7, 2026: trial, with a Norfolk County jury, in Suffolk Superior Court.
Bradl told the judge readiness depends on the rest of discovery: “It’s dependent on what we get from the prosecution.”
Frequently asked questions
When is Turtleboy’s trial?
December 7, 2026, according to the judge at the September 29 trial readiness conference. The jury will come from Norfolk County and the trial will be held in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston.
Will Aidan Kearney’s two cases be tried together?
His lawyers moved to join the 2023 and 2025 witness intimidation indictments, and his defense team says the cases will now be tried together; Kearney reported the prosecutor did not oppose. Under Mass. R. Crim. P. 9(a), related charges are joined unless joinder is not in the interests of justice.
What is a taint team?
A separate team that reviews seized material, such as a phone, to screen out privileged communications before the trial prosecutors see it. The review of Kearney’s phones had not been completed as of September 29.
What is the penalty for witness intimidation in Massachusetts?
Under G.L. c. 268, section 13B, up to 10 years in state prison or up to two and a half years in a house of correction, plus a fine.
Sources: Recording of the September 29, 2026 trial readiness conference in Commonwealth v. Kearney, streamed by Grant Smith Ellis, transcribed by us; press conference with attorneys Mark Bederow and Timothy Bradl after the hearing, streamed by Grant Smith Ellis, transcribed by us; posts on X by Aidan Kearney and Grant Smith Ellis. The recordings are unofficial and parts of the courtroom audio are unclear. Case background from our September 21, 2026 profile. G.L. c. 268, section 13B read at malegislature.gov; Mass. R. Crim. P. 9 read at mass.gov. Aidan Kearney is presumed innocent. General information about Massachusetts law, not legal advice.