Defense rests in Karen Read trial, closing arguments expected Friday
Karen Read's defense rested its case Wednesday after biomechanist Andrew Rentschler from ARCCA finished testifying that in his opinion, John O'Keefe was not hit by a vehicle. Special prosecutor Hank Brennan said he will not call any rebuttal witnesses as had previously been expected. Instead, closing arguments are now scheduled for Friday.
Defense attorney Alan Jackson rested his case Wednesday afternoon.
Outside court Wednesday, Read told reporters she is ready for closing arguments and shared her thoughts on her team's case. "I thought it was strong last year, it's stronger yes," Read said. "We just called more witnesses and laid out more of the case."
Closing arguments
Judge Beverly Cannone said jurors will be given Thursday off while attorneys hold their charging conference starting at 10 a.m. The jury will return Friday with closing arguments beginning around 9 a.m.
Jackson asked Cannone for 90 minutes instead of 60 due to the depth of the case. Cannone said she would not allow for 90 minutes, but would consider giving each side 75 minutes. The judge said she will think about it overnight before making a decision.
Karen Read on jury instructions
Read says she's nervous about another hung jury in her second trial.
"After what happened in the first trial, and what we heard from the jurors that came forward, we just have to have an even keener eye on the verdict form and the jury instructions," Read said.
"I just hope they were listening is all I can ask for," Read said of the jurors. "They were in the same room I was."
What is typically an unremarkable proceeding could be critical in this case, given what happened in the first trial, according to WBZ legal analyst Katherine Loftus.
"Because of last year's confusion about how it was going to go to the jury, whether there was going to be a box checked or not, I expect that we might have some more really like focus on what actually goes to the jury," Loftus told WBZ-TV's Kristina Rex.
Andrew Rentschler finishes testimony
Rentschler was the 11th and final witness called by the defense as they attempted to convince jurors Read should not be convicted of hitting and killing O'Keefe, a Boston police officer who she was dating, with her SUV after a night of heavy drinking in 2022.
Read's defense argues O'Keefe was killed during a fight inside a home at 34 Fairview Road in Canton, then dragged outside and left in the lawn.
Rentschler was being questioned by Jackson when court ended for the day Tuesday. Jackson finished direct questioning Wednesday morning before jurors took their morning recess. Brennan took over on cross-examination for several hours.
ARCCA was initially hired as part of the federal investigation, which has since closed, into how police handled Read's case. Rentschler worked with Daniel Wolfe, who testified earlier this week. Both also testified for the defense in Read's first trial.
Brennan finished his cross-examination around 3:10 p.m. and Jackson returned for additional questioning.
Jackson had Rentschler clarify that earlier in the afternoon when Brennan said several times that "they" provided him with information about the trial, "they" did not refer to the defense team. Jurors are not allowed to know that ARCCA was initially hired by the federal government.
Brennan briefly returned for additional questioning, and Rentschler stepped down.
Defense expert questioned about debris
During a tense exchange, Brennan asked Rentschler if he considered the debris field outside 34 Fairview Road near where O'Keefe was found on January 29, 2022.
"So first of all, there's debris in the yard. What that's from, is there a collision? Was there a collision? Where did that come from? Where it was positioned. That's all conjecture and supposition. Those aren't actual facts sir," Rentschler.
Brennan showed Rentschler various other pieces of evidence from the area where O'Keefe's body was found and asked Rentschler if he considered them as part of his analysis. Rentschler said no to each one.
"If you can't prove that the impact happened, then everything after that doesn't actually matter, does it?" Rentschler said. "Because all of that would be from something else. Unless you prove the core issue of this case, the contact, the post-impact movement, the head injury, without proving that, everything else is ancillary to what you're attempting to conclude."
Attorneys clash in Karen Read trial
During a line of questioning, Rentschler gave an answer, and Brennan said "Well I didn't ask you that." Rentschler paused and looked at the attorney.
"Is that funny?" Brennan asked, prompting Rentschler to respond, "No it's not funny."
Jackson asked the judge to admonish Brennan.
"Again, this is exactly why we approached," Jackson said, referencing an earlier sidebar.
"Next question Mr. Brennan. No more comments," Cannone said.
Several minutes later when Rentschler finished an answer, Brennan said, "Now that you've shared your opinions, can I get back to my question?"
"Once again, your honor, I'm asking the court to admonish counsel. He's editorializing," Jackson said.
Cannone called for a sidebar. The judge then allowed the jury to leave for lunch. According to WBZ-TV's Kristina Rex, who is in the courtroom, a female juror was also not feeling well around the time the recess was called.
ARCCA expert cross-examined
Brennan tried to show that while Rentschler was portrayed in the first trial as an impartial witness, that may not have been the case. The prosecutor asked if information ARCCA provided to him about Read's case may have prepared Rentschler for his testimony, since there was a witness sequestration order.
"I don't think that it did. It's been a year. But certainly it didn't change any of my opinions or what I've opined to. It didn't change anything with my testimony," Rentschler said.
Brennan also asked Rentschler about when he finished testifying last year, if he had lunch at a gathering that included members of Read's defense team. Rentschler said he had a ham sandwich while waiting for his ride. The prosecutor asked Rentschler if he saw a camera crew.
"There were a lot of cameras, yes," Rentschler said.
Rentschler said he didn't remember specific conversations that happened at the luncheon.
Brennan also pointed out that leading up to trial, Rentschler and Wolfe were ordered to provide to the court any text messages they had with defense attorneys. Rentschler, like Wolfe, said he deleted the messages as he routinely does for work communications.
Brennan asked Rentschler about a reference he made to O'Keefe's body being somewhere 10 to 20 feet onto the lawn of 34 Fairview Road.
"You have no idea where the point of impact in the collision was do you?" Brennan asked.
"Nobody does," Rentschler said, responding to another question "There's not evidence."
As he did when Wolfe was on the stand, Brennan questioned Rentschler about the decision to use an arm during testing that was lighter than O'Keefe's. Brennan asked if anyone told him that it was important to highlight the topic, since he mentioned the dummy's weight while going over his credentials early in his testimony on Tuesday.
"I didn't know it was issue, no sir," Rentschler said.
X-rays of John O'Keefe
Rentschler analyzed a report by Judson Welcher, a prosecution witness from Aperture LLC who testified that in his opinion O'Keefe was struck by a vehicle. Welcher also testified that data showed O'Keefe's cellphone stopped moving at the time Read's SUV was moving in reverse.
On Tuesday with Laposata on the stand, Jackson brought X-rays that were taken after O'Keefe died into evidence. This was the first time in either of Read's trials these X-rays have been presented.
During his testimony, Welcher said that no X-rays of O'Keefe's hand or arm were taken that he was aware of. While preparing to ask Rentschler about the first X-ray on Wednesday, Jackson said to Rentschler, "Would it be an important part of a biomechanist's ultimate analysis and conclusions as it relates to an injury analysis [to view X-rays]?"
"It would be. And especially in this case, if we're talking about impact to the arm and the hand, very important to determine, as I said, not only what the actual injuries are, but what injuries did not occur," Rentschler said.
Rentschler said the X-rays show no notable injuries to O'Keefe's forearm, write, hand, or upper arm.
"There's no indication on these X-rays of any fractures or any trauma or any type of injury to the bones or the joints," Rentschler said.
Later on cross-examination, Brennan asked Rentschler if he was looking at the X-rays for his own analysis, or using them as a "prop" and "regurgitating" what he had seen in the medical examiner's report.
Brennan also noted that no MRIs were done, which would have shown potential injuries to O'Keefe outside of broken bones.
Andrew Rentschler testifies
Rentschler and Daniel Wolfe, also from ARCCA who finished testifying earlier this week, performed additional testing after reviewing Welcher's report. Wolfe testified over the course of two days about the crash testing that ARCCA performed.
Jackson asked Rentschler about a paint transfer test performed by Welcher where he put blue paint on a Lexus taillight and had it backed into him at a low speed to see where it would impact his arm.
"It has nothing to do with force. It doesn't describe the force exerted on the taillight ort the arm. It doesn't describe how the arm would have moved as it hit the taillight. It doesn't describe how the taillight would fracture. It doesn't describe how the arm would have move as it hit the taillight," Rentschler said about Welcher's test.
Jackson asked Rentschler if he reached an opinion on the injuries on O'Keefe's arm.
"They don't correspond to how the arm would interact with the vehicle if it was at a right angle and struck by the rear of that vehicle," Rentschler said.
Rentschler showed a frame from Welcher's paint transfer test and said that based on the hand position, he would expect to see broken bones if the hand contacted a vehicle even at speeds lower than 15 mph.
Rentschler spent much of his morning testimony disputing various aspect's of Welcher's presentation and why in his opinion it was not scientifically proper.
Karen Read does not testify
Outside of court on Tuesday, Read told reporters she would not testify in her own defense. Read did not testify during her first trial either, which ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury.
Prosecutors have attempted to use Read's own words against her, playing clips from her various media interviews throughout the trial.
Rentschler was the second witness on the stand Tuesday. Earlier in the day Dr. Elizabeth Laposata, the former medical examiner for Rhode Island, testified that in her opinion, O'Keefe's injuries were not consistent with being hit by a vehicle.
Read has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of personal injury and death.
