DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - The Karen Read retrial is now in the hands of the defense after the prosecution rested on Thursday.
Read’s legal team began their case today by filing a motion, claiming the prosecution failed to do its job by proving beyond a reasonable doubt that a collision occurred outside of 34 Fairview Road.
They called on Judge Beverly Cannone to declare Read not guilty on all counts.
“The commonwealth has done their best, some would say their worst, and their case has failed,” Alan Jackson said.
“The defense tells us that when she leaves, he doesn’t look mortally wounded,” Hank Brennan responded. “She leaves him, makes dozens and dozens of calls, but never goes back to help him, and leaves him to die.”
Cannone shot the request down.
Following, the defense called their first witness, an accident reconstruction expert, Matthew DiSogra. DiSogra specializes in analyzing event data recorders.
DiSogra reviewed the reports that came from the commonwealth’s expert, who examined both the Lexus and John O’Keefe’s iPhone.
The prosecution claims that a trigger event, recorded by Read’s SUV outside of 34 Fairview is when Read put her car in reverse and backed into O’Keefe.
The jury saw DiSogra’s analysis of various possibilities.
“Of those 30 possibilities, 25 of them, it’s a positive, John’s action window is positive for 25 of them,” DiSogra said.
O’Keefe’s iPhone then locked less than a minute later, according to the prosecution’s expert. But DiSogra took issue with the methodology and his prosecution counterpart.
DiSogra told the jury that none of the data that he reviewed indicated there was ever a collision. Upon cross-examination, the prosecution might have found a way to flip that in their favor.
“What did you find in terms of any data regarding a collision?” Alan Jackson asked.
“Neither of the events that occurred that day were triggered by a collision,” DiSogra replied.
“Did you know that the defendant’s vehicle at 5:07 a.m. on January 29 2022 bumped into a different car?”
“Yes,” DiSogra replied.
“Do you see that reflected on the tech stream data?”
“I’m thinking back to when I reviewed the raw, and I don’t remember seeing an event from that,” DiSogra replied.
“It’s not there, is it?”
“I don’t think it is, don’t remember seeing it, don’t think there’s one,” DiSogra replied.
Also amid cross-examination, DiSogra admitted he never testified about variations in cell phone data and agreed the Lexus “black box” only records 10 second windows of activity.
“So, you have no idea what happened after that 10 second window?”
“Correct,” DiSogra replied.
The jury was dismissed around 3:30 p.m. Cannone held a “voir dire” to get an idea of how a potential defense witness might testify about disturbing text messages he received from former state trooper Michael Proctor in 2022, as he was investigating Read for murder.
Jonathan Diamandis was asked to review those messages without going into detail. He identified a nickname in the text chain.
“And what nickname is that?” Diamandis was asked.
“Chip,” Diamandis responded.
“And who do you know as Chip?” Diamandis was asked.
“Michael Proctor,” Diamandis responded.
The defense wants to call Diamandis to the stand to get Proctor’s text messages in front of the jury.
In one, he calls her a “whack job,” and some are more disturbing.
It appears they do not want to call Proctor himself, who could be propped up by Brennan as he’s cross examined.
Brennan wants Cannone to bar Proctor’s friends from testifying about the texts, calling it hearsay.
Attorney David Yannetti argued friends who participated in the text chain are fair game, as the defense tries to prove Proctor is biased.
“Mr. Brennan is not sitting at defense counsel table in this case,” said Yannetti. “We appreciate the offer for choosing our witnesses for us, but we are entitled to choose our own witnesses.”
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