Prosecution rests in trial of Karen Read who's charged in death of Boston police officer boyfriend

The prosecution successful the 2nd proceedings of Karen Read rested Thursday aft astir a period of grounds spotlighting grounds from the country and witnesses who heard the suspect repeatedly accidental “I deed him” successful notation to the sidesplitting of her Boston constabulary serviceman boyfriend.

Read, 45, is accused of backing her SUV into her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, and leaving the 46-year-old serviceman to dice connected a snowy nighttime successful the beforehand gait of different officer’s location aft she dropped him disconnected astatine a enactment determination successful January 2022. Her lawyers accidental she was framed successful a constabulary conspiracy and idiosyncratic successful the location that nighttime killed him.

A mistrial was declared past twelvemonth and the 2nd proceedings has attracted monolithic media attraction and go the taxable of a Hulu documentary series. Read’s 2nd proceedings on charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the country has often looked akin to the archetypal trial. If she is recovered blameworthy of the astir superior complaint of second-degree murder, she could walk the remainder of her beingness successful prison.

The prosecution, led this clip by Hank Brennan, has taken a much streamlined, focused approach.

Unlike the archetypal proceedings wherever witnesser aft witnesser undermined the prosecution's case, Brennan did everything to debar those mistakes. Most significantly, helium refrained from putting Michael Proctor, the pb researcher successful the case, connected the stand.

Proctor was fired successful March aft a disciplinary committee recovered helium sent sexist and crude substance messages astir Read to his household and colleagues. His grounds played a cardinal relation successful the archetypal trial. Defense attorneys utilized his substance messages to effort to amusement Proctor was biased and ignored the anticipation of different suspects.

Brennan besides didn't enactment Brian Albert, the Boston serviceman who owned the location wherever O'Keefe's assemblage was found, connected the stand. He besides passed connected putting connected Brian Higgins, a national cause who had exchanged flirty texts with Read, connected the stand.

All 3 testified successful the archetypal proceedings and could beryllium called by the defence arsenic it seeks to amusement O'Keefe was beaten astatine the location enactment hosted by Albert and near extracurricular to die.

Read’s attorney, Alan Jackson, inactive managed to rise concerns astir Higgins and Proctor.

During the cross-examination of Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Yuriy Bukhenik, helium made him work each the flirtatious texts betwixt Higgins and Read.

Jackson besides brought up a substance connection concatenation with Bukhenik successful which Proctor said, “I hatred that man, I genuinely hatred him” astir David Yannetti, an lawyer for Read.

Broken pieces of Read's taillight. A breached cocktail glass. Read's words the scene.

Prosecutors person spent overmuch of the proceedings gathering their lawsuit done grounds from the scene. Like before, they started by introducing respective instrumentality enforcement witnesses who were among the archetypal responders and recalled proceeding Read repeatedly accidental “I deed him” aft she recovered O'Keefe.

They besides played respective clips of interviews Read has done since the archetypal trial, successful which she talked astir however overmuch she drank and made comments suggesting she knew what she did. She besides talked astir pulling a portion of solid from O'Keefe's nose.

“Could I person clipped him? Could I person tapped him successful the genu and incapacitated him?” she said during an interrogation for a documentary connected the case. “He didn’t look mortally wounded, arsenic acold arsenic I could see” but “could I person done thing that knocked him retired and successful his drunkenness and successful the acold didn’t travel to again.”

Prosecutors called a neurosurgeon who testified O’Keefe suffered a “classic blunt trauma injury” associated with falling backward and hitting the backmost of his head.

Prosecutors besides showed jurors pieces of the Read's breached taillight, which they accidental was damaged erstwhile she deed O'Keefe. The defence argues the taillight was damaged aboriginal erstwhile she was backing retired of O'Keefe's location and deed O'Keefe's car.

Prosecutors besides introduced grounds of a breached cocktail glass, recovered astatine the scene, which they said O'Keefe was holding erstwhile Read backed into him.

Andre Porto, a forensic idiosyncratic who works successful the DNA portion of the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab, elaborate assorted items helium tested, including the breached rear taillight and pieces of a breached cocktail solid recovered successful in the yard. Only O'Keefe was a apt lucifer for both.

Porto recovered 3 DNA contributors but lone O’Keefe was a apt match. He besides tested DNA from parts of a breached cocktail solid recovered successful the gait and lone O’Keefe was seen arsenic a apt match. Porto besides tested a hairsbreadth recovered connected the taillight.

Later successful the trial, expert Karl Miyasako of Bode Technology testified that tests of the hairsbreadth illustration taken from Read’s conveyance recovered a mitochondrial DNA lucifer to O’Keefe. He said that means the DNA could beryllium a lucifer to O’Keefe oregon immoderate 1 of his maternal relatives.

The proceedings could easy proceed respective much weeks arsenic Read's defence squad makes its case. Read has said the defense's lawsuit volition beryllium “more robust” this time. It listed implicit 90 witnesses who could testify.

“I'm anxious for everyone to larn what we know,” she said past week.

Read's defence has vigorously questioned the prosecution's witnesses and called into question grounds presented astir O'Keefe's death. During opening statements successful April, Brennan said Read “admitted what she did that night” and pointed to a tv interrogation successful which Read said “could I person clipped him?” astir O'Keefe's death.