DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - The defense in the Karen Read case is fighting to have a dog bite expert testify in her retrial.
Dr. Marie Russell testified in Read’s first trial that wounds on victim John O’Keefe’s body were likely from a dog. The defense believes a dog may have attacked O’Keefe.
Prosecutors are trying to disqualify Russell as a witness, claiming she doesn’t have the relevant experience in canine bites.
In a new court filing, the defense argued that “when a person is attacked by a dog and needs medical treatment, it is likely that the person will go to the emergency department to seek immediate treatment. Emergency medicine physicians like Dr. Russell thus are the medical professionals most likely to repeatedly observe dog-induced human wounds and identify consistent patterns in the wounds…”
Investigators said Read hit O’Keefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend, with her car and left him to die in a snowbank outside of a Canton home in 2022. Read maintains she’s innocent.
Read’s first trial ended in a mistrial in July. The judge agreed to delay the start of her retrial, but a date has yet to be set.
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