PUBLISHER'S NOTE: As this highly publicized trial is certain to be loaded with forensic issues that are relevant to this Blog, I will be dipping in from time to time.
Harold Levy; Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The defense blames a third party for John O'Keefe's death The defense's approach has been to portray the investigation into O’Keefe’s death as shoddy and undermined by the close relationship investigators had with the police officers and other law enforcement agents who were at the house party. Among the key witnesses they will call is former State Trooper Michael Proctor, who led the investigation but has since been fired after a disciplinary board found he sent crude and sexist texts about Read to his family and colleagues. He is also on the prosecution's witness list. Proctor’s testimony was a key moment during the first trial, when the defense suggested his texts about Read and the case showed he was biased and had singled her out early in the investigation, ignoring other potential suspects."
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STORY: "First week of Karen Read retrial included jury trip to Canton and couple's texts," by Reporters Michael Casey and Holly Ramer published on April 28, 2025, by NBC Boston;
GIST: "Karen Read, 45, has been charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene. A mistrial was declared last year after jurors said they were at an impasse"
GIST: "Prosecutors say Read backed her SUV into John O’Keefe, 46, in 2022 after dropping him off at a party hosted by a fellow police officer and returned hours later to find him dead. Defense attorneys say she was a victim of a conspiracy involving the police and they plan, as they did in the first trial, to offer evidence pointing to the real killer.
Read, 45, has been charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene. A mistrial was declared last year after jurors said they were at an impasse.
The second trial has thus far looked similar to the first. It is being held in the same courthouse before the same judge, and dozens of Read’s passionate supporters are again rallying outside. The primary defense lawyers and many of the nearly 200 witnesses will also be the same.
Jurors view the Canton crime scene
On Friday, jurors traveled to Canton, where O'Keefe's body was found outside the home of Brian Albert on Jan. 29, 2022. Read's SUV also was parked there for the viewing.
Prosecutor Hank Brennan told jurors to view the scene from different vantage points and reminded them that it would have looked different at night, during a snowstorm. Defense attorney David Yannetti asked jurors to consider the distance between the home's windows and doors and the front lawn. Jurors also should take a good look at Read's vehicle, he said.
“Size it up,” he said. “Take it in.”
The jury in the Karen Read retrial got an up-close look at the Canton home where John O'Keefe was found mortally wounded — though Read didn't go along for the trip. A juror from the first trial explains what it was like going on the visit, known as a jury view, and in court, a paramedic who was at the home the morning of O'Keefe's death testifies. Plus, we'll get an update on Read's Supreme Court appeal and analyze the first comments from Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally in the retrial.
Doctor describes testing Karen Read's blood alcohol level
Dr. Garrey Faller, former lab director at Good Samaritan Medical Center, testified Friday that Read's blood alcohol content was 93 milligrams per deciliter, or 0.093%, at 9 a.m. the day O'Keefe was found dead. The legal BAC limit in Massachusetts for driving is 0.08%.
In cross-examining Faller, Read's attorney suggested that the lab wasn't using the most reliable type of test or that the results could have been skewed by Read's medical conditions — anemia and multiple sclerosis.
“Our methodology is just as good,” he said.
That testimony came a day after prosecutors showed clips from interviews in which Read described pouring extra shots of alcohol into cocktails she deemed too weak but denying that she was driving recklessly the night O'Keefe died.
Friend describes John O'Keefe and Karen Read as an affectionate couple
O’Keefe’s close friend, Michael Camerano, testified Thursday about the relationship between O’Keefe and Read and their interactions the night he died. He said the couple greeted each other with affection at a Canton bar, and that O’Keefe put his arm around Read and kissed her.
“He certainly never told you or even suggested that he was thinking about or planning to break up with Karen, right?” defense attorney David Yannetti asked.
“No,” Camerano said.
“And during the month before John’s passing, that January of 2022, you observed their relationship in your presence to be normal, caring, and affectionate, right?” Yannetti asked.
“Yes,” Camerano said.
The relationship between Karen Read and John O'Keefe took center stage Thursday in her murder retrial, with prosecutors showing the jury a series of text messages between them reflecting some tension soon before he died. They also showed video of interviews in which she discussed drinking the night before he died.
Texts tell a different story
At the first trial, prosecutors called witnesses who described how the couple’s relationship had begun to sour before O’Keefe’s death, including his brother and sister-in-law, who testified that Read told her the couple had argued in Aruba after she caught O’Keefe kissing another woman.
On Thursday, a state police forensics investigator read a long series of tense text messages between Read and O'Keefe in the hours before they met up at a bar on the night he died. Jurors also saw screenshots of the messages.
“Sick of always arguing and fighting,” O'Keefe wrote. “It's been weekly for several months now. So yeh I'm not as quick to jump back into being lovie dovie as you apparently.”
“I know your heart isn't in this anymore,” Read wrote. “I've felt it for awhile and esp lately. I am willing to try more but not if you approaching the point of Indifference.”
New evidence to be offered
Prosecutors are relying on witnesses from the scene in the early days of the trial, counting on testimony from police officers and firefighters who recalled Read making comments that implicated her in the killing.
They are also introducing evidence of a broken taillight on Read’s SUV that prosecutors argue was damaged when she hit O’Keefe and possible DNA from O’Keefe found on her vehicle.
The defense’s goal is to raise doubts about the prosecution case and plant the seed that she was framed. They are expected to suggest that a hair found on the taillight was planted and the police investigation was marred by a conflict of interest.
The defense blames a third party for John O'Keefe's death
The defense's approach has been to portray the investigation into O’Keefe’s death as shoddy and undermined by the close relationship investigators had with the police officers and other law enforcement agents who were at the house party.
Among the key witnesses they will call is former State Trooper Michael Proctor, who led the investigation but has since been fired after a disciplinary board found he sent crude and sexist texts about Read to his family and colleagues. He is also on the prosecution's witness list.
Proctor’s testimony was a key moment during the first trial, when the defense suggested his texts about Read and the case showed he was biased and had singled her out early in the investigation, ignoring other potential suspects."
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/karen-read-retrial-first-week-recap/3696747/PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
———————————————————————————————
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
—————————————————————————————————
FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
