Critical witness puts case against Karen Read 'on life support,' lawyer says
Karen Read's defense club is looking to build on momentum the previous day from a surprise police witness who testified that her taillight was less damaged when he helped seize it with a warrant than it appears in photos taken after it arrived at the Canton Police Department where officers first towed it Taillight fragments weren't uncovered at the crime scene until later too and her defense's implication is that they could have been planted there Wednesday marks the th day of Read's retrial on murder and other charges in the January death of her then-boyfriend Boston cop John O'Keefe KAREN READ'S SILENCE IN MURDER TRIAL RAISES STAKES FOR DEFENSEShe is accused of hitting him with her Lexus SUV and leaving the scene where he died with head trauma and signs of hypothermia The defense says no collision happened and something or someone else caused his injuries On Tuesday Dighton Police Sgt Nicholas Barros testified that when he arrived at Read's parents' house to help state police confiscate the carriage fewer pieces of taillight were missing from the cracked taillight KAREN READ JUDGE BLOCKS SANDRA BIRCHMORE MENTIONS EXPERT SAYS CASES SHOULD BE WAKE-UP CALL FOR POLICEHe declared that a photo of Read's SUV taken at the Canton Police Department's sallyport a secure garage did absolutely not show the taillight in the same condition it was in when he saw it in the driveway Barros surprised the courtroom when he testified for the commonwealth during Read's first trial which ended with a deadlocked jury last year This time he was a defense witness FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME ASSOCIATION ON X He was a devastating witness who has the district attorney's scenario on life assistance disclosed Mark Bederow a New York City-based defense attorney who is closely following the episode KAREN READ'S SUV REACHED ' THROTTLE' MOMENTS BEFORE JOHN O'KEEFE'S FINAL MOVEMENTS CRASH EXPERT TESTIFIESHe mentioned special prosecutor Hank Brennan conducted an excellent cross-examination showing Barros and the jury images of Read's taillight taken over the subject of the day before police took her SUV but defense attorney Alan Jackson performed equally well on redirect questioning SIGN UP TO GET THE TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTER The sum total is that Barros is unequivocal the taillight he saw on January was not anywhere near as destroyed as when the Massachusetts State Police had it he commented GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE TRUE CRIME HUBGrace Edwards a Massachusetts defense attorney who is also following the circumstance called Barros' testimony a bombshell and disclosed the surprise in trial was a clear Brady violation referring to a rule that prosecutors must share exculpatory evidence with the defense The fact that a police officer drove to the Omni Hotel to meet with the defense club of a defendant on trial for murder clearly indicates he longed to tell his story she explained Fox News Digital Dr Judson Welcher an expert for the prosecution explained to jurors how he ascertained that O'Keefe appeared to have been struck in the arm by the back corner of Read's SUV before he fell to the ground and fractured the back of his skull Christina Hanley an analyst with the state police's crime lab testified that investigators recovered plastic fragments from O'Keefe's clothing that were a match with the broken taillight or something made of the same material Read could face life in prison if convicted of the top charge second-degree murder
