Forensic expert talks about what he'll be watching in Karen Read trial
Joseph Scott Morgan, who has worked in the field for over 20 years, provides his thoughts on the Massachusetts case.
Dashcam video shown in court during day three of Karen Read's murder trial was the public's first glimpse of the night Boston police officer John O'Keefe was killed, but the footage was obscured by heavy snowfall and police flashlights against the pitch-black night sky.
The video is about three minutes long and was initially played in a quiet courtroom, with no comment or questions from the prosecution or defense.
Then the lawyers sparred during first responders' testimony, where they gave conflicting accounts of what they heard. They described a "frantic" and "distraught" woman yelling, but what she actually said isn't clear.
One first responder testified that she had yelled, "I hit him, I hit him, oh my God I hit him." Another testified, "He's dead. He's f---ing dead." A third said a woman had yelled, "Is he alive?"
In Karen Read's murder trial, jurors saw bodycam footage from the night Boston police officer John O'Keefe died. (AP/Canton Police Department)
The blurry dashcam clearly showed a commotion in front of the police vehicle, and first responders moving a gurney with O'Keefe's body to an ambulance.
But first responders had difficulty even distinguishing themselves in the footage from Jan. 29, 2022, outside of Boston police officer Brian Albert's home in Canton, Massachusetts, a Boston suburb.
That's when O'Keefe was found dead in four to six inches of snow in a T-shirt and missing a shoe.
Read was charged with O'Keefe's murder. Prosecutors alleged she backed over her boyfriend, O'Keefe, with her Lexus SUV during an alcohol-fueled fight.
Read pleaded not guilty to all charges, and her defense team claimed she was framed in an elaborate cover-up to protect the Albert family, an influential family with ties to law enforcement, first responders and prosecutors in the area.
On the top dashcam video, Boston police officer John O'Keefe is on a gurney, as first responders rush him to an ambulance. (Canton Police Department)
WATCH FULL DASHCAM VIDEO SHOWN IN COURT
Two Canton first responders, Fire Lt. Anthony Flematti and firefighter Kaite McLaughlin, testified that they had heard Read incriminate herself by repeatedly saying, "I hit him."
During cross-examination, Flematti seemingly walked back his original comments.
Read's high-powered attorney, Alan Jackson, asked him if he heard that phrase "in any context either to the police or to the grand jury before today?"
Karen Read sits in court during jury selection Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Dedham, Massachusetts. Read, 44, is accused of running into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in the middle of a nor'easter and leaving him for dead after a night of heavy drinking. (David McGlynn/New York Post via AP, Pool)
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"I don’t recall," Flematti responded.
Canton Fire Lt. Francis Walsh said he had heard a distraught woman yelling, "He's dead. He's f---ing dead."
Read's lawyer specifically asked Walsh whether it was "easy for you to discern that her words were, 'He's dead. He's f---ing dead'?" Walsh responded, "Correct."
Karen Read arrives at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger)
Officer John O’Keefe poses for his official headshot. (Boston Police Department)
He also testified that he heard a woman yell, "Is he alive?"
"I think they were all over the map, weren’t they?" one of Read's lawyers, David Yanetti, said about the testimonies heard Thursday. "Everybody had a different version of what was said, and I think much of it was unreliable."
After the trial's fiery opening statements, which included several stunning accusations from the defense, jurors heard testimony from the first responders, as well as O'Keefe's family.
On Friday, jurors visited the crime scene, as testimony continued.
Karen Read speaks with lawyers in court during jury selection at Norfolk County Superior Court, Thursday, April 18, 2024. (David McGlynn/New York Post via AP, Pool)
Karen Read departs Norfolk Superior Court following a day of jury selection, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
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Massachusetts jurors will decide whether the Boston cop, who was 46 years old when he died in January 2022, was killed by Read, as her defense alleges a cover-up scheme to protect an influential local family.
The trial is predicted to last six to eight weeks.
