DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - The U.S. Supreme Court declined Karen Read’s appeal to drop some of the charges against her on Monday.
Read’s defense team tried to appeal on a claim that the jury in her first trial had come to a verdict on two of the lesser charges, but that those verdicts were not read. They claimed that retrying Read on those two charges would constitute double jeopardy.
Back in Massachusetts, testimony began again Monday morning following a field trip on Friday to the Canton location where Boston police officer John O’Keefe’s body was found.
On Monday, digital forensic examiner Ian Whiffin took the witness stand. He said he extracted data from Jennifer McCabe’s and O’Keefe’s cell phones using a system called Cellebrite. He presented a slideshow showing how he got the analysis on McCabe’s Google search “hos long to die in cold.”
“So, I was able to take test devices, recreate test data to find out exactly what this timestamp meant and discovered that it was actually the timestamp that the tap within the browser was brought into focus and had no relevance to when the actual web query had been made,” Whiffin said.
According to Whiffin, O’Keefe’s iPhone location data is sometimes inaccurate, but when it is accurate, it shows his phone at the far end of the Canton property where he died. Whiffin also provided new evidence about internal temperature recordings from John O’Keefe’s iPhone, showing that the battery gradually got colder and colder until first responders arrived after 6 a.m.
“The battery temperature never indicates that the device went from a cold environment to a warm environment, which I would expect to see if the device went inside the building,” said Whiffin.
He also used location data from O’Keefe’s phone to build a timeline from when O’Keefe and Read left the bar for Fairview Road.
The jury viewed a fire hydrant and flagpole near where is body was found on Friday.
“My opinion is that the device never moved far away from the flagpole,” said Whiffin.
In the second half of the day, ARCCA accident reconstruction experts who testified in Read’s first trial were questioned while the jury was dismissed.
The ARCCA employees say O’Keefe was not hit by a car. First hired by the Department of Justice, they were seen as impartial, until secret communications were revealed.
Read paid them roughly $24,000 after the trial ended. Alan Jackson used the encrypted “Signal” app to communicate at times this year.
Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan hammered away at Dr. Daniel Wolfe’s credibility.
“It’s to help the jury understand my report and my analysis,” said Dr. Wolfe.
“Do you think it’s helpful not answering my question and diverting every time I ask you something?” Brennan responded. “Do you want to answer my question or do you want me to move on?”
“I think I did answer your question,” said Wolfe.
“I don’t think you did,” responded Brennan.
Defense Attorney Robert Alessi questioned Dr. Wolfe about online harassment he and his family have received from people who think Read hit O’Keefe with her car.
Wolfe repeatedly testified his report, originally produced for the federal government, never changed. He also said emails and texts exchanged were about logistics and his background, not a discussion of his findings.
“Were you trying to, in a way, favor the defense?” asked Alessi.
“Absolutely not,” Wolfe responded.
Read is accused of killing O’Keefe, her boyfriend, by hitting him with her car and leaving him to die in a snowbank after a night of drinking. Her lawyers argue she is being framed. Her first trial last summer ended in a mistrial.
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