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Attorneys for Read say she’s being framed and that O’Keefe entered the Fairview home, owned at the time by a fellow Boston officer whose son was celebrating his 23rd birthday, where he was fatally beaten in the basem*nt before his body was planted on the front lawn.
Jurors in Norfolk Superior Court on Friday heard from ATF agent Brian Higgins, who drank at a local bar with a group that included Read and O’Keefe on the night of Jan. 28, 2022 and who went back to the Fairview Road home for the afterparty. He testified that he and Read exchanged flirty text messages and kissed once in the weeks before the death of O’Keefe, who prosecutors say was trying to end his strained relationship with her.
Related: Say More Podcast: Catch up on the Karen Read trial
Here’s how Tuesday’s testimony unfolded.
4:04 p.m. — Judge Beverly Cannone dismisses court for the day
After Louis Jutras wrapped up his testimony on the stand, prosecutor Adam Lally said they have no more witnesses today.
Attorneys went to a sidebar with Judge Beverly Cannone, who then dismissed court for the day.
Court is not in session for the rest of the week and is scheduled to return on Monday. Cannone said that when they return, jurors should expect longer days, likely going until 4:30 Monday and Wednesday.
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”We’ll get as much done as we possibly can,” she said.
3:57 p.m. — Louis Jutras identifies video footage
Louis Jutras identified video footage of the camera view from the town library between 12 a.m. and 1 a.m.
Prosecutor Adam Lally paused the footage when a dark SUV was seen on Washington Street around midnight on Jan. 29.
Read was driving her black SUV on the night of O’Keefe’s death, witnesses have testified. Jutras told Read attorney David Yannetti that he didn’t watch all the requested footage.
”It’s motion activated,” Jutras said.
3:47 p.m. — Jutras testifies that he learned Feb. 1 that GPS on town DPW trucks was not working
Louis Jutras, Canton’s manager of the information systems division of the town finance department, said “no one” in town is authorized to remove footage from the municipal cameras.
On Feb. 1, Jutras said, he learned the GPS technology on the town DPW trucks wasn’t working.
”It happens several times throughout the year for various reasons,” Jutras said. He said he watched portions of the requested video footage to ensure the town had it.
3:46 p.m. — Louis Jutras says he was asked for ‘video footage’
Louis Jutras said police informed him that authorities would be looking for some “video footage” following John O’Keefe’s death.
”We had pulled some footage from one site ... and after that there was a request for anything facing Washington Street,” Jutras said, adding that cameras from Town Hall and the public library were included in the latter request.
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He said investigators wanted footage between 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. and from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. on Jan. 29.
The footage from the first site was from a farm off Pleasant Street, Jutras said. The farm cameras covered more of the property and less of the street out front, Jutras said. He said the Town Hall and library cameras are motion activated.
The date and time stamps on the video footage provided to authorities were accurate, Jutras said. ”Depending on the site ... we usually try to get about 30 days” before the footage overrides, Jutras said.
3:38 p.m. — Prosecution witness Louis Jutras called to the stand
The government next called Louis Jutras, Canton’s manager of the information systems division of the town finance department.
3:30 p.m. — Trotta testimony continues about plowing and who was plowing Fairview Road
Michael Trotta, Canton’s superintendent of public works, described the dimensions of the trucks used in the plowing and said drivers are instructed “to plow the middle of the road, keep the middle of the road open, and as they make their way through the route, they’re supposed to push back a little bit.”
Trotta told Read attorney David Yannetti on cross examination that Trooper Michael Proctor, lead State Police investigator on the case, had called him on Feb. 3, 2022.
”Had you heard that there was a police officer who was found dead on another police officer’s lawn in Canton?” Yannetti asked. Trotta said he had, and that he spoke to Proctor only by phone.
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”We may have discussed who was on that route and who plowed,” Trotta said. “I may have [identified the plow driver for the route] but I’m not positive. ... I believe he asked me about this plow list.”
Trotta said Brian Loughlin was plowing Fairview Road and he may have provided his name to Proctor, though he couldn’t be certain. The phone call was just “a few minutes,” Trotta said.
”Michael Proctor never followed up again with you personally,” Yannetti said.
”That’s a good question,” Trotta said. “I am not sure.”
Yannetti then asked Trotta about an incident Feb. 15, 2022, when a defense investigator left a business card for him at the DPW office. Trotta said he didn’t recall receiving the card or calling the investigator back.
Yannetti asked if the name of Bill Walsh, a municipal highway official, came up in his earlier conversation with Proctor, and he said it may have but he wasn’t sure. Yannetti asked if one of the DPW trucks was nicknamed “Frankenstein” and Judge Beverly Cannone sustained a government objection. Trotta then stepped down.
3:23 p.m. — Trotta testifies about Canton’s ‘plow plan’ for Jan. 28 and Jan. 29
Michael Trotta, Canton’s superintendent of public works, said State Police asked him who had been plowing in the vicinity of Fairview Road during the storm early on Jan. 29.
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He identified a written “plow plan” for the storm that prosecutor Adam Lally handed to him on the stand.
The plan said the sanders were slated to start work at 11 p.m. on Jan. 28, and that town workers were scheduled to begin working at 2:15 a.m., followed by private contractors who would start plowing at 3 a.m., with the job scheduled to finish around 5 a.m. The Fairview plow route was number 11, Trotta said.
3:14 p.m. — The next witness is Michael Trotta, Canton’s superintendent of public works
Prosecutors next called Michael Trotta, Canton’s superintendent of public works. Trotta said in early February 2022, State Police contacted him about a blizzard that occurred the week before when O’Keefe died.
Trotta said the trooper “wanted to know what the procedure was” when DPW staffers respond to a snowstorm. Trotta said the town is divided into several plow routes, generally three to three and a half miles long.
”We try very hard to have two trucks on a route but we generally don’t get enough,” he said.
3:10 p.m. — Biotech engineer says his estimate for Karen Read’s blood alcohol level was “a calculation”
Nicholas Roberts, a field service engineer for the biotech ThermoFisher, told Read attorney Elizabeth Little on cross examination that his estimate for Karen Read’s blood alcohol level was “a calculation.”
”Certain assumptions are incredibly important to reach your analysis,” Little said.
“Sure,” Roberts said.
He said time of last drink is important, and that if the lab received the wrong time, the analysis “could be” incorrect.
”The time of the blood draw as well as the time of the incident of the last drink” are used for the analysis, Roberts said. He said the lab also does a “confirmatory” test after the initial one to ensure there are no errors.
”You’re just assuming the accuracy of the single test [that was performed] by a hospital” when it comes to the lab, Little said.
“Yes,” Roberts said.
Little asked if the range he cited for Read is a “large disparity” and he said “yes.”
”There’s a large range ... due to the factors in the calculation,” Roberts said. Little said that if Read drank alcohol after 12:45 a.m. but before her blood was drawn at 9 a.m., then “your entire calculation would be inaccurate.” Roberts said that would be the case.
He told prosecutor Adam Lally on redirect that a drink around 5 a.m. would “put the numbers very different,” though a drink around 1 a.m. would not. Little clarified that Roberts got his estimated time of last drink for Read from a police report, not from Read herself.
“Yes,” Roberts said.
2:56 p.m. — Analysis puts time of Karen Read’s last drink at approximately 12:45 a.m., Roberts testifies
Nicholas Roberts, a field service engineer for the biotech ThermoFisher, said he performed a retrograde analysis on Karen Read’s blood sample, placing her time of last drink at 12:45 a.m.
”We kind of round to the nearest ... 15-minute interval,” Roberts said.
He said he determined Read’s minimum blood alcohol content was 0.135 and her maximum level was 0.292 at the time. The legal limit is 0.08.
2:49 p.m. — Biotech engineer testifies that he was assigned to perform testing on Karen Read’s blood
Nicholas Roberts, a field service engineer for the biotech ThermoFisher, told prosecutor Adam Lally that forensic scientists at the State Police lab were regularly provided literature regarding the latest research on testing, and that they also underwent proficiency tests.
He left the State Police lab last year, he testified.
In May of 2022, Roberts said, he was assigned to perform a “serum conversion” on Karen Read’s blood based on the test at Good Samaritan, a process by which a scientist converts the hospital result to a result that would come from a “whole blood” test, which hospitals do not perform.
”We got the medical records,” Roberts said. He said Read’s medical records from Good Samaritan put her alcohol reading at 93 milligrams per deciliter shortly after 9 a.m. on Jan. 29.
Roberts said a process called retrograde extrapolation allows scientists to calculate the possible blood alcohol content at a time prior to when the blood was drawn. Scientists need to know when the blood was drawn and time of last drink to convert the reading, Roberts said, adding that staffers don’t do a conversion if that window is less than two hours.
2:28 p.m. — Prosecutors call Nicholas Roberts
Prosecutors next called Nicholas Roberts, a field service engineer for the biotech ThermoFisher. He previously worked in the State Police crime lab as forensic scientist.
2:20 p.m. — Faller testifies that the lab does calculate blood alcohol content
“You’re not in the business of sort of trying to calculate BAC [blood alcohol content], correct?” Read lawyer Elizabeth Little asked.
”No, we don’t,” Faller said.
He said formulas exist “that one can use to convert our level to a blood alcohol [level]. We don’t do it.” He said “there are forensic lab people” who “can provide that formula.”
Faller also said “correct” when Little asked if the hospital’s serum test does not indicate when alcohol was consumed. He told prosecutor Adam Lally on redirect, “I didn’t see anything,” when asked if there were other factors in Read’s case that could have led to an elevated reading of the presence of alcohol.
Faller then stepped down.
2:20 p.m. — Karen Read’s blood was ordered drawn at 9:03 a.m. on Jan. 29, doctor says
Dr. Garrey Faller said alcohol tends to concentrate in the “watery components” of a patient’s blood. He said Read’s blood was ordered drawn at 9:03 a.m. on Jan. 29, and minutes later the phlebotomist drew it. He said the blood came back to the lab about 10 minutes after the order, and the result came about 50 minutes after the order.
He reiterated that the result was 93 milligrams per deciliter. He told defense attorney Elizabeth Little on cross examination that the hospital doesn’t collect a patient’s blood alcohol level for legal purposes.
Little asked if hospitals use serum tests for blood rather than full blood tests because they’re more efficient, and Faller said “correct.”
Little asked if alcohol readings of such tests can be elevated by other factors in the blood. Faller said such factors include lactic acid or high levels of lipids. ”Our machines are very sophisticated now,” Faller said, adding that machines will flag potential “interferences” in samples.
Little asked if there are factors that the machines can’t pick up. ”If there is, then it’s not a common phenomenon,” Faller said. “I haven’t read about major faults in our methodology for testing.”
2:09 p.m. — Doctor testifies about Karen Read’s blood alcohol level when it was tested
Dr. Garrey Faller said every laboratory test at Good Samaritan has its own individual policy that staffers must follow.
He said Karen Read’s blood alcohol level was reported at 93 milligrams per deciliter at the hospital on the morning of Jan. 29. Court records say Read’s blood alcohol level when she allegedly struck O’Keefe hours earlier would have been between 0.13 and 0.29. The legal limit is 0.08.
Faller said staffers have patients say their names and dates of birth out loud to ensure the right blood samples are being tested. He went on to describe a number of steps taken to ensure samples are properly processed, including a centrifuge process where blood spins at a rapid rate to separate the red blood cell component from its liquid component.
1:57 p.m. — Dr. Faller discusses the Good Samaritan lab and blood testing
Dr. Faller said the Good Samaritan lab is reviewed for accreditation every two years. ”Mainly quality, quality control,” Faller said. “Making sure we have enough staff members. ... There is essentially a checklist requirement” the lab must pass. The next review is coming up in July, Faller said.
He said the lab tests blood for “many different things” including glucose, sodium, potassium, and chloride levels in a patient. The lab also tests blood for alcohol and drugs when necessary, Faller said.
He said “I don’t think so, no,” when prosecutor Adam Lally asked if it would be “abnormal” to test for drugs and alcohol on a patient brought to the hospital under Section 12, a state law that allows authorities to hospitalize someone for evaluation if they voice the possibility of self-harm.
Karen Read was a Section 12 patient on Jan. 29, officials have said.
Faller said a phlebotomist is a person medically trained to draw blood. He said phlebotomists are trained and assessed at Good Samaritan. ”It’s all about making sure the final [test] result that comes from our lab is of good quality,” Faller said.
1:47 p.m. — Dr. Faller details his medical training and role at Good Samaritan
Dr. Garrey Faller detailed his training and professional background before prosecutor Adam Lally. He said he works as the laboratory medical director at Good Samaritan.
”My job is to help ensure that any laboratory report coming from Good Samaritan is accurate,” Faller said.
1:42 p.m. — The next witness is Dr. Garrey Faller
Prosecutors next called Dr. Garrey Faller, the medical director at Good Samaritan Medical Center.
12:52 p.m. — John O’Keefe suffered cardiac arrest, head trauma, and complications from ‘exposure to the cold,’ doctor testifies
Dr. Justin Rice, formerly of Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, told prosecutor Adam Lally that he observed cardiac arrest and head trauma to John O’Keefe as well as complications due to “exposure to the cold.”
Rice then stepped down, and Judge Beverly Cannone called a lunch recess at 12:50 p.m., with testimony slated to resume at 1:30 p.m.
12:49 p.m. — Doctor testifies that O’Keefe had scratches on his right arm and a laceration on his right eye
Dr. Justin Rice said Karen Read’s blood was drawn as part of her medical evaluation. Court filings have said Read’s blood alcohol level would have been between 0.13 and 0.29 when she allegedly struck John O’Keefe. The legal limit is 0.08.
Rice told Read attorney Elizabeth Little on cross examination that he did not collect the blood work and he wasn’t certain who sent it to the lab.
Little asked Rice if a firefighter ever approached him at the hospital and informed him Read may have struck O’Keefe with a vehicle. Rice said he did not recall hearing that. He said he noted that “per EMS reports, the patient may have been struck with a vehicle.”
Little showed Rice a medical report on O’Keefe’s treatment and asked if there was any mention of a vehicle. ”There’s not,” Rice said.
He told Little that O’Keefe had scratches on his right arm and a laceration on his right eye. Asked if he had no other injuries from the neck down, Rice said, “I don’t know if that’s fair to say.”
Rice said “correct” when Little listed off a number of O’Keefe’s limbs and extremities that, the report showed, had no visible injuries.
”From the neck down he did not have a single broken bone,” Little said. Rice said he did not report a broken bone or any fractures.
He told prosecutor Adam Lally on redirect that the focus of the hospital medical team treating O’Keefe was trying to revive him. ”In cases like this, because the attention is on resuscitation of someone’s heartbeat, their life, there’s less focus on injuries or observations that” aren’t pertinent to the life saving efforts, Rice said.
12:29 p.m. — John O’Keefe was in cardiac arrest the whole time he was treated at Good Samaritan, doctor testifies
Dr. Justin Rice, formerly of Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, told prosecutor Adam Lally that “despite resuscitative efforts” for about a half hour, John O’Keefe’s core temperature did not warm significantly.
The doctor said he pronounced O’Keefe dead at 7:50 a.m. on Jan. 29. Asked if O’Keefe remained in cardiac arrest the whole time staff treated him, Rice said, “yes.”
He noted a laceration on O’Keefe’s head above his eye as well as a contusion. Rice said he also noted “breath sounds present bilaterally” and that O’Keefe was “pulseless” with “superficial abrasions on the right forearm.” Later that same morning, Rice said, he treated Karen Read at Good Samaritan.
12:22 p.m. — Doctor testifies about ‘resuscitative efforts’ to save John O’Keefe
Dr. Justin Rice identified a chart detailing all the “resuscitative efforts” that medical personnel made to try to save Boston police officer John O’Keefe.
Rice said O’Keefe was brought in to Good Samaritan around 6:47 a.m. on Jan. 29, 2022.
”He was unresponsive and intubated,” Rice said. “He had CPR in progress and also someone would have been ventilating him, his lungs.”
Rice said O’Keefe arrived at the hospital in cardiac arrest. He said the protocol for such a patient includes advanced cardiac life support, and epinephrine, or adrenaline, is also provided in an effort to revive the heart.
”I know his initial temperature was low,” Rice said of O’Keefe, adding that his body temperature was about 80 degrees, which qualifies as hypothermic.
”Eighty degrees is very cold,” Rice said. He said a “bear hugger,” or blanket with warm air pumped through it, was applied to O’Keefe, as well as warm IV fluids.
12:07 p.m. — Dr. Rice testifies that he treated John O’Keefe before he was pronounced dead
Dr. Justin Rice told prosecutor Adam Lally that he worked in the emergency department at Good Samaritan, which had 36 treatment rooms as well as “a lot of hallway stretchers.”
He said he was working at the hospital on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022. He said he believes he began his shift at 6 a.m. that day. Rice said he treated John O’Keefe at Good Samaritan before he was pronounced dead.
12:03 p.m. — Prosecutors call Dr. Justin Rice
Prosecutors next called Dr. Justice Rice, formerly of Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton.
Good Samaritan Medical Center was where John O’Keefe was pronounced dead on Jan. 29, 2022, and also where Karen Read was taken after voicing suicidal thoughts, according to prior witnesses and court records.
Rice began his testimony detailing his training and professional background.
11:42 a.m. — Court is in recess
Streamed testimony is set to resume around noon.
11:16 a.m. — Live blog remains paused as minor witnesses testify
Check back for updates.
10:20 a.m. — Minor witness called in Karen Read trial
The two minors on the government’s witness list are John O’Keefe’s niece and nephew, whom he took in and raised following the deaths of both their parents from cancer.
Authorities had interviewed both the niece and nephew, then 14 and 10, respectively, on Feb. 22, 2022, according to legal filings.
O’Keefe’s niece “indicated during her interview that the defendant and the victim had argued a lot toward the end,” and that she heard her uncle tell Karen Read about a week before his death that their relationship had run its course and “isn’t healthy,” court papers said.
9:54 a.m. — Judge says minor testimony will not be transmitted
Judge Beverly Cannone said that by court order there will be “no transmission” of the following testimony. She did not identify the next witness but said the person is a minor.
9:50 a.m. — Higgins testifies that he changed his personal phone number one day before being served with a preservation order for his phone
ATF agent Brian Higgins told Read defense attorney David Yannetti on recross that he did not change his phone number in July 2022 after receiving the call from his investigatory target.
”I was so concerned that I reported it to my supervisor,” Higgins said.
Yet he kept the same phone and number for several months thereafter, Yannetti said. ”I did,” Higgins said.
Higgins told Yannetti that “I wasn’t proud” of the texts he’d exchanged with Read. Higgins said he told his boss about Read’s kiss, but “I don’t know if I specifically recall” telling his supervisor about the text messages.
He told Yannetti he changed his personal phone number on Sept. 29, 2022 when he got a new device. He was served with a court order to preserve his phone the following day, he said.
Higgins then stepped down and the lawyers were called to sidebar before the next witness.
9:44 a.m. — Higgins says he threw phone away ‘with other trash’ at military base because he had no trash pick up at his residence
Brian Higgins told prosecutor Adam Lally he received a subpoena on Sept. 30, 2022 regarding his phone, which Read’s lawyers were seeking to examine. A defense motion for the phone was denied in early October 2022.
Higgins said he got rid of his phone “about two months after that ... because it was beaten, it was broken up” and he also had a new device. And in July 2022, he said, a target of one of his ATF investigations called him on his personal cell phone, and the man told him his girlfriend had received his number off the Internet.
”I had a lot of concerns” upon hearing that, Higgins said. He said he “didn’t have much” on his old phone “in the sense that I’m divorced, I don’t have kids.” So he didn’t have a lot of photos or videos to preserve.
He said he had more of a connection to his work phone than his personal device. Higgins said he threw his phone away “with other trash” at the military base, a common practice since he has no trash pickup at his residence in Barnstable County.
Leaving Fairview early on Jan. 29, Higgins said, he “absolutely” did not see O’Keefe on the ground when he left. ”If I had seen John O’Keefe on the side of the road, I would have done something,” Higgins said.
9:35 a.m. — Prosecutor Adam Lally asks Higgins about leaving Fairview Road, texts with Read
ATF agent Brian Higgins told prosecutor Adam Lally on redirect that when he pulled away from Fairview Road early on Jan. 29, he pulled out “more to the center of that road.” Higgins told Lally he drove his Jeep Wrangler from Fairview, to the Canton police station, to his home in West Roxbury.
Higgins told Lally “the defendant,” or Karen Read, initiated the text communication they had in January 2022 in the weeks leading up to O’Keefe’s death. Higgins said Read had told him about an incident in Aruba about a month beforehand, when she confronted O’Keefe after mistakenly thinking she saw him kissing another woman, both via text and in person.
Higgins told Lally that he and Read exchanged no text messages after Jan. 23 until late on the morning of Jan. 29 when she informed him her boyfriend John O’Keefe was dead.
Higgins said he hadn’t spoken to anyone else about the text messages because he “was a little embarrassed” and thought they showed him in a negative light since he was “John’s friend.”
”Everything was so out of left field,” he said of Read’s overtures via text. “I just found it hard to believe.”
Higgins said he went to the Canton police station after leaving the Fairview Road house early on Jan. 29 to move vehicles so he wouldn’t have to do it later in the morning when the snow was worse. Lally asked Higgins if he spoke with Brian Albert, the owner of the Fairview home at the time, at 2:22 a.m. on Jan. 29, 2022.
”No, I did not,” Higgins said. The defense last week presented phone records indicating the men had spoken briefly at that hour.
9:24 a.m. — Higgins cross examination continues, as Read attorney asks if he disposed of his phone in late 2022
ATF agent Brian Higgins told Read attorney David Yannetti that he provided a copy of the complete exchange via text between him and Read to investigators. Higgins said “that’s correct” when Yannetti asked if he hadn’t turned over texts with anyone else to authorities.
Higgins answered “yes” when Yannetti asked if he disposed of his phone in late 2022 and said “no I did not” when asked if he did a factory reset of the phone beforehand. A factory reset wipes a phone’s data.
Yannetti referenced Higgins’ prior statement in May 2023 when he allegedly told authorities he’d done the factory reset of the device. Higgins said he didn’t recall making that statement.
After reading a transcript of his prior statements, Higgins said “that’s not accurate.”
”Your testimony is they got it wrong,” Yannetti said. Higgins said his testimony was that he didn’t say he performed a factory reset, though he did cut up or break the device’s SIM card.
”So nobody else could use the phone,” Higgins said. ”You wanted to make sure that someone” couldn’t access your data correct, Yannetti asked.
”No, that wouldn’t be the reason why,” Higgins said. Yannetti referenced Higgins’s prior testimony in June 2023 in which, records show, Higgins said “I made sure that somebody couldn’t put it in their phone.”
”Yes, I did say that,” Higgins said. He said “I believe [the card] went in a trash bag,” when Yannetti asked if he put the device in the trash.
Higgins said “yes sir” when asked if he drove to a Cape military base to toss the phone and the destroyed SIM card in a dumpster. ”I believe that’s what I did, yes,” Higgins said. “Yes, I threw it away.”
Asked if he transferred no data from his old phone to his new one, Higgins said, “that’s correct.” Higgins told Yannetti he “most likely” had text messages on his phone with members of the Albert family which owned the Fairview home at the time.
”You took no steps to preserve those text messages,” Yannetti said. ”That’s correct,” Higgins said.
9:11 a.m. — The jury has entered; testimony should begin shortly.
Sean Cotter of the Globe Staff contributed to this report.
Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.
