Judge finds trooper innocent of threatening ex-girlfriend

TAUNTON — A Taunton District Court judge Thursday found a state trooper innocent of repeatedly threatening an ex-girlfriend with his service weapon at his Attleboro home last year.

Trooper Joel Devine was acquitted of domestic assault, assault by means of a dangerous weapon and uttering threats to kill by Judge Michael Brennan after a three-day, jury-waived trial.

Devine, 29, was placed on unpaid administrative leave by state police after he was arrested by Attleboro police in January and had been free on bail.

A departmental hearing will be scheduled “in the very near future” to determine his duty status in light of the not guilty verdict, David Procopio, a state police spokesman, said Thursday.

“I’m very pleased with the verdict in this case today. It was based on the evidence,” Devine’s lawyer, Thomas Flanagan of Walpole said. “Judge Brennan was able to assess the evidence and arrive at a just verdict.”

The defense lawyer said his client is represented by other lawyers regarding his job status, but expects Devine will ask to be reinstated.

“Joel Devine is a fine young man,” Flanagan said, adding that he was a U.S. Marine veteran and law enforcement professional dedicated to serving his community and “protecting people, not harming them.”

The ex-girlfriend testified that Devine pointed his service weapon at her and threatened to kill her on four occasions from July through September 2020.

She contended that he had been abusive since they met at Bridgewater State University when she was 18 and had abused her on a vacation in the Bahamas.

The relationship was on and off over the years and finally ended in October 2020, according to the woman.

There were conflicting accounts of who ended the relationship and how it ended. Devine, who did not testify at the trial, has always maintained his innocence.

In his closing argument, Flanagan said the woman wanted to derail Devine’s career and “fabricated these allegations as revenge against my client” for ending the relationship.

Flanagan argued that the woman did not disclose the nature of her relationship with a Chelsea police officer, whom she dated, and sought his help to determine how long troopers are on probation after graduating.

Devine graduated from the state police academy in May 2020 and was still on probation when she made the allegation to Attleboro police in January of this year. Troopers can be fired for any reason within a year of graduation.

Flanagan argued her statements to Attleboro police, state police internal affairs investigators and court testimony were inconsistent.

Text messages and other evidence extracted from the woman’s cellphone damaged her credibility and that there was no evidence to corroborate her claims, Flanagan argued.

“She made statements that were untruthful and misleading,” Flanagan said.