DEDHAM – The Karen Read Trial continues on Monday with more witness statement as the prosecution continues to make its case in the Massachusetts murder case. The trial has not taken place since last Tuesday at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham.
Read is accused of beating and killing her boyfriend John O’Keefe, a Boston police officer, and leaving him to die in the snow in January 2022 in Canton, Massachusetts. The defense argues that he was actually killed in a fight and dragged outside.
You can watch a livestream of the Karen Read murder trial as it begins in the CBS News Boston video player above.
What happened last week at the Karen Read trial?
There was only one day of testimony at the trial last week.
ATF agent Brian Higgins, who the defense claims is one of the men who could have killed O’Keefe, completed his testimony.
Among the other witnesses called were O’Keefe’s niece and nephew. The teens, whose names were not used during testimony, told the jury about a strained relationship between Read and O’Keefe.
Prosecutors then called several experts who testified about this Read alcohol in the blood (BAC) level on the morning of January 29, 2022. Doctors said they had a BAC of 93 milligrams per deciliter, or 0.093%. The legal BAC while driving in Massachusetts is 0.08%.
Another expert testified about “retrograde” testing that estimates what a person’s BAC would have been hours before an official test was administered.
Using a formula, the expert estimated that Read’s BAC would previously have been a minimum of 0.135% or a maximum of 0.292%.
On cross-examination, the defense argued that there were variables in the test and that it might not be reliable.
Who is Karen Read?
Read is a 45-year-old woman from Mansfield, Massachusetts who was in a relationship with O’Keefe when he died. She has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of personal injury and death.
What is the schedule for Karen Read’s murder trial this week?
A full day of testimony is planned for Monday and Wednesday this week. A half day is planned for Thursday. There is no court on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Judge Beverly Cannone said last week she may shorten the jury’s lunch break from an hour to 45 minutes and allow the court to continue an extra half hour until 4:30 p.m. on full days of testimony to speed up the trial.
So far, the Public Prosecution Service has called more than 50 witnesses from the list of 87. The defense has a list of 77 possible witnesses, but 20 have already been called for prosecution.
