Thomas’ Lawyer Seeks Call Records

The judge in the case of suspended football captain Matthew C. Thomas ’06–’07 has ordered prosecutors and police to turn over phone records from the days immediately surrounding a July 8 Boston Globe article that printed the details of Thomas’ arrest.

Thomas’ lawyer, Michael J. McHugh ’73, requested that the records be turned over. They could reveal whether Globe reporter Bob Hohler first learned from prosecutors or police officers that a detailed incident report had been made publicly available.

The Globe story—published on July 8—was the first to report on a 2-page Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) narrative of Thomas’ arrest early on the morning of June 5. The Crimson first reported Thomas’ arrest on June 22, but The Crimson’s story was based off the much briefer narrative available in HUPD’s public log.

When asked whether the DA’s office or HUPD had told him that the full police narrative was available at the Cambridge District Court Clerk’s office and suggested that he write a story, Hohler said, “I was acting on a tip that had nothing to do with law enforcement.”

The order, given by Cambridge District Court Judge George R. Sprague ’60, applies to the Cambridge District Attorney’s (DA) office and HUPD.

According to the longer HUPD report, Thomas attended the Senior Soiree on the night of June 4, where he became heavily inebriated. He then gained entry to his ex-girlfriend’s room in Currier House by breaking the door down. When the ex-girlfriend returned to her room, she and Thomas began to fight, and witnesses found Thomas “strangling her with one hand.” The victim was later taken to Mt. Auburn Hospital.

Douglas Bailey, a media consultant working with McHugh on Thomas’ case, declined to comment last night on why McHugh had requested the records.

But McHugh has expressed concern about the DA’s and HUPD’s relationship with the press before. McHugh unsuccessfully requested at a July 19 hearing that a gag order be placed on prosecutors and police in the case, and a DA spokeswoman has since said that the DA has entered into a signed agreement with McHugh stating that the prosecutors will not proactively encourage media coverage of the case.

Kate Norton, a spokeswoman at the DA’s office, said last night that the DA can still respond to media inquiries regarding the case.

Hohler said yesterday that he was surprised by Sprague’s order.

“In my 26 years as a reporter, this is one of the most unusual decisions I have ever seen,” he said.

David E. McCraw, a lawyer for The New York Times Company—which owns The Globe—issued a statement last night expressing The Times’ unhappiness with Sprague’s ruling.

“We find the courts order very troubling,” he said. “It will lead to no information bearing on the guilt or innocence of the accused, but it will certainly have the effect of discouraging prosecutors and law enforcement officers from talking to reporters and providing them with information that the public has a right to know.”

Norton said last night that the DA planned to comply with Sprague’s order.

OFF THE ROSTER

As the court case proceeds against Thomas, the Harvard football team has taken steps to distance itself from the former first-team all-Ivy League linebacker.

Thomas has been replaced as team captain and is no longer listed on the squad’s roster according to the 2006 football media guide, which was released last Thursday.

And the guide indicates that Thomas may have been permanently suspended from the team; where the recipients of the “Major H” award are listed, his name appears with those players “lost” to graduation rather than “returning” to the team this year.

According to the guide, which was released on the Harvard Athletics website, senior Ryan E. Tully ’07 will serve as team captain next year. Tully, who hails from Norfolk, Mass., was an honorable mention all-Ivy selection last season at linebacker. He finished as the Crimson’s second-leading tackler behind Thomas and led the squad in tackles for loss.

Football coach Tim Murphy said in June that if the allegations against ex-captain Thomas prove true he will be fully dismissed from the team.

When contacted last Friday, Murphy declined to comment about Thomas’ status or Tully’s selection as captain. He said that he will not answer questions until Ivy League Football Media Day, to be held Aug. 8 at Yale Golf Course.

Thomas, who was indefinitely suspended from the team in June, is not listed on the team roster or the depth chart at linebacker. The guide does have a profile of Matthew D. Thomas ’09, a sophomore linebacker unrelated to the former captain. The roster on the Harvard Athletics website, which is maintained separately from the media guide, still lists both players.

—Staff writer Brad Hinshelwood can be reached at bhinshel@fas.harvard.edu.
—Staff writer Evan H. Jacobs can be reached at ehjacobs@fas.harvard.edu.