BOSTON – Karen Read’s high-profile murder trial in Massachusetts continues Wednesday with additional testimony. The judge in the case is still expected to rule on the defense’s claims that a previous witness committed perjury.
The trial will take place in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham.
You can watch the testimony when it begins on CBS News Boston by clicking on the video player above.
Who is Karen Read?
Read, a 45-year-old woman from Massachusetts, did is charged with, among other things, second-degree murderleaving the scene of personal injury and death, and manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol.
Read pleaded not guilty in the case. Read’s attorneys claim she is being framed as part of a cover-up that includes law enforcement.
Prosecutors from the Norfolk District Attorney’s office say Read hit Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe with her SUV after a night of drinking and left him to die in the snow. Read and O’Keefe were dating at the time of his death.
David McGlynn/New York Post via AP, Pool
Previous witness accused of perjury
Judge Beverly Cannone is expected to weigh in this week on previous testimony from Canton firefighter-paramedic Katie McLaughlin.
Read’s lawyers have raised concerns about photos in which they say McLaughlin committed perjury. McLaughlin testified last week that she is an acquaintance, not a friend, of Caitlin Albert, whose father is Brian Albert.
O’Keefe’s body was found on the lawn of Brian Albert’s home.
Defense attorney David Yannetti said he received photos following McLaughlin’s testimony. He told Cannone that the photos show McLaughlin and Caitlin Albert are friends.
“It is very clear that Katie McLaughlin committed perjury,” Yannetti said Monday during a courtroom argument without jurors present.
Cannone told Yannetti she would hear the new information in the coming days without the jury present. Yannetti asked for the interview to take place quickly because Caitlin Albert is expected to be called as a witness this week.
What has happened so far this week in the Karen Read case?
Several police officers took the stand this week to explain how they handled evidence after O’Keefe’s death. In cross-examination, Read’s attorneys focused on what they said was improper evidence collection.
Canton Police Sgt. Michael Lank was also questioned about a 2002 incident in which he was involved in an off-duty fight on behalf of Brian Albert. Defense attorneys argue that the incident shows that Lank would be willing to do the Albert family a favor. Lank denied that this had any impact on his handling of O’Keefe’s death.
