Crash expert in Karen Read trial is prosecution's final witness
Crash reconstructionist Judson Welcher, a key prosecution witness in the Karen Read trial, completed three days of intense questioning on Thursday inside Norfolk Superior Court. Minutes later, the prosecution rested its case in the high-profile trial.
After the prosecution rested, court ended for the day. The defense is expected to begin calling witnesses on Friday.
Court normally begins at 9 a.m. Judge Beverly Cannone told jurors that she has to meet with attorneys to start the day on Friday, so testimony is expected to begin at 9:30 a.m.
Karen Read speaks to reporters
Read said while leaving court that Matthew DiSogra, a digital forensic expert, will be the defense's first witness to take the stand.
When asked if she planned on testifying, Read said "TBD." She did not testify during her first trial. Read also gave the same answer when asked if fired Massachusetts State Police trooper Michael Proctor would be called to testify.
A reporter asked Read to summarize the prosecution's case.
"Unjust," she said.
Prosecution rests in Karen Read trial
After calling 38 witnesses over 23 days, the prosecution rested its case around 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.
When Welcher finished his testimony, special prosecutor Hank Brennan played a video for the jury. The interview clip was from a documentary Read participated in that was recorded on April 10, 2024. She recalls a conversation she had with defense attorney David Yannetti on the day O'Keefe's body was found.
"Did he come and hit the back of my car, and I hit him in the knee and he's drunk and passed out and asphyxiated or something? And then when I hired David Yannetti, I asked him those questions the night of January 29," Read said in the clip. "You know, what if I ran his foot over, or what if I clipped him in the knee and he passed out or went to care for himself and threw up or passed out? And David said, 'Well yeah then you have some element of culpability.'"
"Your honor, the Commonwealth rests," Brennan said after the clip played.
Attorneys went to sidebar with Cannone after the prosecution rested, then jurors were dismissed for the day.
WBZ-TV legal analyst Katherine Loftus said the clips of Read's interviews that were played throughout the trial could be key for the prosecution as they try to convince the jury.
"I think it really goes to how consequential some of her statements in these interviews that she has given to these various media outlets may just be in sort of the entirety of the Commonwealth's case when the jury looks at them," Loftus said.
Loftus noted that in the documentary there is more context to Read's statement that the jury did not get to hear and won't get to hear unless Read herself takes the stand.
Judson Welcher finishes testimony
Welcher works as a biomechanical engineer for Aperture LLC.
Welcher first took the stand on Tuesday for questioning from Brennan. Defense attorney Bob Alessi began cross-examination Wednesday morning and continued through the end of the day. Alessi finished cross-examination around 10:45 a.m. on Thursday and Brennan will return for brief redirect questioning.
The prosecution says Welcher's testimony proves Read hit Boston police officer John O'Keefe with her Lexus SUV on the night of January 29, 2022 outside 34 Fairview Road in Canton. They accuse Read of leaving O'Keefe to die in the snow after a night of heavy drinking.
Read's defense says O'Keefe was not hit by a vehicle. Instead, they argue he was killed during a fight inside the home then dragged outside.
Heated exchange in Karen Read trial
There were several tense exchanges between Alessi and Welcher early on Thursday. At one point in the middle of an answer, Welcher said "I'm sorry, let me…" and held up his hand in Alessi's direction.
"Sir, please don't interrupt," Alessi said to Welcher, prompting the judge to intervene.
"Your honor, he keeps referencing my hand and saying I'm doing something when I'm not and I think that's distracting to the jury. I'm not interrupting him," Alessi said to the judge.
"Let the witness answer the question," Cannone replied.
"I am. I'm just holding my hand like this, your honor. He keeps saying I'm doing something," Alessi said.
Testimony then continued following the exchange.
Defense questions Ring camera testimony
During direct testimony, Welcher testified that based on his investigation, Read would not have cracked her taillight when backing out of O'Keefe's garage around 5 a.m. on January 29, 2022.
Surveillance video from O'Keefe's home shows Read bumping the Chevy Traverse in the driveway.
The defense has said that is when Read's Lexus was damaged. The prosecution says the damage came hours earlier when she hit O'Keefe.
Alessi highlighted that the camera currently on O'Keefe's home is different from the one that was there on January 29. Welcher said he accounted for that in his research, but Alessi noted that Welcher did not measure the location of the camera or know the exact amount of distortion in the new camera.
Karen Read judge rules against defense
Before the jury was brought in, attorneys continued a hearing that began at the end of the day on Wednesday.
Alessi and the defense wanted to be able to cross-examine Welcher about certain aspects of his presentation related information from Massachusetts State Police Trooper Joseph Paul and medical examiner Dr. Irini Scordi-Bello. The defense attorney argued that Welcher adopted information from those two and added it into his presentation.
During his argument, Alessi said the defense seeks to "combat the swords the prosecution has been able to put forward" and cross-examine Welcher "undaunted from the serial objections" the prosecution used previously.
Brennan then argued that Welcher did not adopt reports from the trooper or medical examiner, and accused the defense of trying to "manipulate a witness," saying if the defense wants to admit evidence from Trooper Joseph Paul, that they can call him as a witness.
After hearing arguments from both sides, Cannone ruled against the defense and said she would not allow the line of questioning.
Read, whose first trial in 2024 ended with a mistrial due to hung jury, 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.
