On Wednesday, December 13, Petros “Peter” Sismanis returned to Framingham District Court to face Judge Matthew McGrath in a motion hearing. During his last appearance in October, McGrath excoriated the District Attorney for not complying with the defense’ request to hand over potentially exculpatory evidence. 

Sismanis stands accused of one count of Indecent Assault of a Minor and two counts of Witness Intimidation. The charges stem from an alleged incident that took place on January 12 with an underage female employee at Hillers Pizza, which Sismanis owns. He was charged on January 31 and the DA for the Commonwealth read the allegations in open court.

“The defendant offered to take the victim downstairs to show her the inventory. She stated that the defendant sat in a chair, and that while he was sitting, he put his arms around her waist and placed his hand on the center of her back. She stated that he then stood up and began to hug her, and kiss her on the mouth while holding his hand on the center of her back. She tried to pull away and the defendant continued kissing her.”

“After that finished, he pleaded with her not to say anything because she was ‘too young’. Both parties proceeded upstairs and the victim first called her mother to tell her what happened. The mother was at the scene around 9:00 and spoke to both the victim and defendant. The defendant then attempted to keep both the victim and her mother from leaving the business. The defendant also made statements that he ‘would rather be killed than to call the police’.”

“The victim’s mother then attempted to get in her vehicle, and the defendant blocked the door to keep it from closing. The victim’s mother stated that this went on for about 15 minutes before she was finally able to close the door and leave the area.”

In a hearing last October, Sismanis’ attorney Edward Krippendorf, Jr. told the court that “The Commonwealth has yet to produce the recording of the 911 call, which contains witness statements. The police have been very slow to produce discovery”. Judge McGrath agreed, and gave the DA until December 13 to provide the evidence or he would “entertain a motion to dismiss” the case. That day, HopNews spoke with several sources at Hopkinton Police, who confirmed they had provided everything requested.

Today’s hearing cleared up the confusion. “This was not a 911 call,” said the attorney for the DA’s office. “The call was made to the police business line, which is why Hopkinton Police Department did not initially know they had it. We have provided it to counsel now.”

The Commonwealth had also requested surveillance footage, which was “in the custody of the defendant,” said the attorney for the DA’s office. “These are from the defendant’s cameras.” Attorney Krippendorf also indicated to the judge that they were still seeking recordings of the radio transmissions between the responding officers.

While Krippendorf did not attempt to have the case dismissed, he did present a motion to suppress some evidence. The details of that motion have not been made public but a hearing was scheduled for January to review the matter. 

Judge McGrath was eager to get a trial date set. “This case is more than a year old,” he said. Working with counsel, he scheduled a jury trial for Thursday, March 7.

Outside of the courtroom, HopNews attempted to ask Sismanis for a comment, but Attorney Krippendorf intervened. “He’s not talking to you,” he said.