The prosecution in Karen Read’s murder retrial could rest its case this week after the 45-year-old Mansfield woman said last week that she believes they have just one witness left to call to the stand.
WATCH LIVE: Day 21 of witness testimony begins at 9 a.m.
Read is accused of striking John O’Keefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend, with her Lexus SUV and leaving him to die alone in a blizzard outside of a house party in Canton at the home of fellow officer Brian Albert following a night of drinking.
When testimony resumes on Tuesday morning in Dedham’s Norfolk Superior Court, Dr. Judson Welcher is expected to be called to the stand by prosecutors, according to Read.
Welcher is a biomechanical engineer and accident reconstructionist at Aperture LLC.
Judson Welcher
“I believe that to be the last one, that is my understanding,” Read said of Welcher after court last Wednesday. There was no court on Thursday, Friday, or Monday due to the Memorial Day weekend.
The defense tried to get testimony from Welcher excluded during pre-trial hearings, but Judge Beverly Cannone denied that motion. Similar to his collegue Shanon Burgess, Welcher could desribe his conclusions about data from Read’s SUV from the morning of O’Keefe’s death on Jan. 29, 2022.
If Welcher is the final witness for the prosecution, we could see the case turned over to the defense later this week.
Read said she is feeling “anxious” to present a “more robust” case.
When the court was last in session, Dr. Aizak Wolf, a Miami brain surgeon, testified that O’Keefe’s head injury was from a fall backwards. Christine Hanley from the Massachusetts State Police lab also said she found tiny pieces of taillight in O’Keefe’s clothes.
Prosecutors allege Read intentionally backed into O’Keefe after she dropped him off at a house party and returned hours later to find him dead. The defense has claimed that she was a victim of a vast police conspiracy and that O’Keefe was fatally beaten by another law enforcement officer at the party.
A mistrial was declared last year after jurors said they were at an impasse and deliberating further would be futile.
Read has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence, and leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death.
Get caught up with all of the latest in Karen Read’s retrial.
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