Jurors in Karen Read’s murder trial returned to the courtroom Monday morning, where they are expected to face a full day of testimony with extended hours.
They’ve been on hiatus since last week, when they heard from medical experts about Read’s level of intoxication the morning John O’Keefe was found dead, as well as O’Keefe’s niece and nephew who testified that they heard frequent arguments between the two.
Watch Karen Read’s trial live on nbcboston.com, NECN, NBC Boston streaming platforms (including Roku, Peacock and Samsung TV) and the NBC10 Boston YouTube page. Every night of the trial at 7 p.m., check back for analysis and more.
Read is accused of hitting O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving him to die on the lawn of 34 Fairview Road in Canton, Massachusetts. Her defense says she is the victim of a frame-up.
After O’Keefe’s body was discovered, Read began acting erratically, according to testimony, leading to her being admitted to Good Samaritan Medical Center.
Blood tests performed there revealed she had a blood alcohol level of 0.081 around 9 a.m. This is slightly above the legal driving limit.
John O’Keefe’s niece and nephew, both minors, were tested off-camera during the murder trial of Karen Read.
However, a forensic toxicologist says that if Read had had his last drink at 12:45 a.m., his blood alcohol level at the time O’Keefe was hit would have been 0.13 with a high of 0.29.
“It’s just to encompass anyone within the general population, who is somewhere between that lower limit and that upper limit,” said Nicholas Roberts, a former employee of the police crime lab’s toxicology unit of the State of Massachusetts.
Monday will be a full day of testimony with a shortened lunch break, but there will be no hearing Tuesday. Wednesday will be a full day, Thursday a half day and Friday there will be no court.
Mass. State Police Lt. Tests by Kevin O’Hara
Monday began with testimony from Massachusetts State Police Lt. Kevin O’Hara. He is the commander of the State Police Special Emergency Response Team, or SERT.
In January. On December 29, 2022, the day O’Keefe died, he said he was contacted around 2:30 p.m. by Lt. Brian Tully, supervisor of the Norfolk County Prosecutor’s State Police Detective Unit.
He said Tully told him he was investigating a death in Canton and was looking for help looking for evidence. O’Hara told Tully that SERT team members would be able to respond, but it could take some time due to blizzard-like weather conditions at the time.
O’Hara said it was about 3:45 p.m. when he told Tully his team was authorized to respond to Canton. Team members were asked to bring shovels, brooms and racks. O’Hara said he arrived at 34 Fairview Road at 4:56 p.m. Six other members of the SERT team responded with him.
Once everyone was on site, the team set up a grid search around where Karen Read’s vehicle was believed to have been parked outside Albert’s house the night before. He said Tully told them that O’Keefe had been hit by a vehicle and that they should look for pieces of a broken tail light and possibly O’Keefe’s sneaker. O’Hara said it was already dark by the time their search began.
After finding several pieces of the tail light, O’Hara said he asked for a photo of the vehicle to see how big a section of the tail light was. But Tully said the vehicle was towed to the township police department.
The taillight pieces were found in the street, between the flagpole and the fire hydrant in front of the house, he said. About six or seven rooms in total were located that day. He said they also found a sneaker in the same location.
The entire search ended around 6:15 p.m., O’Hara said. He said he told Tully the team could return during the day to continue their search.
Deputy Prosecutor Adam Lally then showed the jury a series of photos of the snowy yard at 34 Fairview Road showing where the taillight pieces and sneaker were found and members of the SERT team conducting their search .
Shortly after 10 a.m., defense attorney David Yannetti began cross-examining O’Hara. Yannetti began by pointing out that the scene had not been secured and had been left open to the public in the hours before the SERT team arrived.
Yannetti also asked O’Hara to confirm that it was dark by the time their search began, and Tully informed them of the area they should search.