DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) 鈥 The defense rested its case Monday in the murder trial of a woman accused of striking her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV, clearing the way for closing arguments and jury deliberations after nearly two months of testimony.
Karen Read did not take the stand after three final witnesses testified in the high-profile case that's created a media storm in part by accusations of police misconduct that have been fueled by true crime bloggers. Closing arguments will take place Tuesday, with one hour for each side, before jurors begin their deliberations, the judge said.
Prosecutors contend Read struck John O鈥橩eefe with her SUV and then left the scene in January 2022, leaving him unconscious in the snow after a night of bar hopping. He was found unresponsive hours later outside the Canton home of another Boston police officer who was hosting a party. An autopsy found he died of hypothermia and blunt force trauma.
The three defense witnesses on Monday cast doubt on prosecutors' version of events.
Dr. Frank Sheridan, a retired forensic pathologist who worked previously as chief medical examiner for San Bernardino County in California, testified he would have expected more bruising if O鈥橩eefe had been hit by a heavy vehicle. He also suggested that scratch marks on O鈥橩eefe鈥檚 arm could have come from a dog and that other injuries were consistent with an altercation.
Two witnesses from an independent consulting firm that conducts forensic engineering also said the damage to the broken taillight was not consistent with injuries suffered by O'Keefe on his head and arm. One of the witnesses also suggested his injuries should have been more severe if Read backed into him at more than 20 mph (32 kph) as the prosecution contends and questioned how O'Keefe's body ended up where it did.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 know what happened in this case,鈥 said Andrew Rentschler from ARCCA, which was hired by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of a federal investigation into state law enforcement鈥檚 handling of the Read case.
鈥淐ertainly it鈥檚 not consistent with getting hit by the car and ending up where he did, even if the ground is somehow hard enough to cause that type of an injury,鈥 he said of O'Keefe head injuries. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 really have enough evidence in this case to determine what one specific event actually caused that injury.鈥
Read鈥檚 lawyers . They contend O鈥橩eefe was dragged outside after he was beaten in Brian Albert鈥檚 home in Canton and bitten by Albert鈥檚 dog. They used Sheridan鈥檚 testimony to reinforce those theories, even despite a lack of canine DNA evidence.
The defense argued that investigators focused on Read because she was a 鈥渃onvenient outsider鈥 who saved them from having to consider other suspects, including Albert and other law enforcement officers who were at the party.
Testimony in the trial began on April 29 after jury selection. Prosecutors spent most of the trial methodically presenting . The defense called only a handful of witnesses but used its time in cross-examining prosecution witnesses to raise and sloppy police work. Complaints from a chorus of supporters that often camp outside the courthouse echoed those same questions.
Rita Lombardi, a Canton resident who said she鈥檚 part of the 鈥渟idewalk jury鈥 and has never missed a day of the trial, said the experience at Norfolk County court has demonstrated 鈥渇ailures in the system鈥 that she believes need to be addressed.
