LOWELL — The Phan brothers charged in the 2020 killing of Tyrone Phet are asking a Middlesex Superior Court judge to reconsider the bail orders that have kept them behind bars for nearly five and a half years, arguing that new allegations of misconduct by a State Police homicide detective have thrown the case off course.
In a motion filed on Feb. 13, attorney Mark Wester — representing Billy Phan — argues that the recent disclosure that State Police Sgt. Scott Quigley’s alleged intoxication and speeding in a 2023 fatal crash qualifies as the kind of “changed circumstances” that Massachusetts law requires for bail reconsideration, writing that the revelations have “delayed the just resolution of this case.”
In the motion, Wester asks Judge Chris Barry‑Smith to reconsider holding Phan without bail and “grant him a reasonable cash bail.”
Attorneys Lorenzo Perez and William Dolan filed similar motions on behalf of Channa Phan and Billoeum Phan.
The three brothers, all in their 30s, each face life in prison without the possibility of parole after being charged with first‑degree murder in the shooting of 22‑year‑old Phet outside his home at 50 Spring Ave. in Lowell during the early‑morning hours of Sept. 14, 2020.
Phet — a 2016 Chelmsford High graduate and former high school football standout — was struck by gunfire eight times, with one bullet passing through both lungs and his heart and another entering and exiting his brain.
Police recovered 21 spent shell casings at the scene, including ten 10mm casings and eleven .40‑caliber casings.
The Phan brothers have been held without bail since their arrests in October 2020.
Dolan said earlier this month that while defendants in first‑degree murder cases are typically held without bail, the circumstances surrounding Quigley’s alleged misconduct justify reconsideration.
Quigley — a key investigator in the Phan case — is accused of being under the influence of alcohol and speeding while on duty in a State Police cruiser when he crossed into oncoming traffic and caused the December 2023 Woburn crash that killed 37‑year‑old Angelo Schettino, a paraplegic man with special needs.
Dolan also pointed to the outcome of the brothers’ first trial in November 2024, which ended in a hung jury and a mistrial, forcing the case into a second trial cycle.
“Because (the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office) didn’t meet their burden in their first trial and because of all the other things going on, they shouldn’t have to wait in jail,” Dolan said of the Phan brothers.
The defense had asked that the bail review be taken up alongside an evidentiary hearing they are seeking into the handling of Quigley’s 2023 crash.
The defense has argued that the evidentiary hearing is necessary because they believe the State Police and the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office covered up information about Quigley after the crash.
Quigley, who was assigned as a homicide investigator to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and played a central role in the Phan investigation, has since been suspended without pay. His crash has been referred to the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office for possible criminal charges. Schettino’s mother, Lynn Schettino, is also pursuing a civil‑rights lawsuit against the State Police over her son’s death.
Michael Mahoney, who represents Schettino’s mother in the civil‑rights case, said of Quigley, “It keeps coming for this guy.”
In the motion requesting the evidentiary hearing, the Phan brothers’ defense team states testimony from Quigley and another 18 members of law enforcement is needed to determine whether there was an effort to shield him from scrutiny and to establish why his toxicology results were not disclosed to the Phan defense until jury selection in January.
Prosecutors were originally ordered to respond to the evidentiary‑hearing motion by Friday, but the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office requested — and was granted — an extension until Monday.
Dolan said on Friday that he and his client were frustrated to learn the extension had been granted to the DA’s office, calling it “just more of the same dragging their feet.”
The requests for the bail and evidentiary hearings come as the brothers’ retrial remains frozen, with Barry‑Smith halting jury selection late last month and dismissing the 12 jurors who had already been seated.
The judge paused the proceedings after the disclosures about Quigley surfaced during jury selection, prompting the court to order a full review before the case could continue.
Defense attorneys have also moved to dismiss the charges against the Phan brothers entirely, stating the delayed disclosures and questions surrounding Quigley’s conduct have irreparably tainted the prosecution.
In the meantime, a new retrial date is currently scheduled to begin on April 27.
The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office was unavailable for comment on the status of its response to the evidentiary‑hearing motion.
Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.
Aaron Curtis
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