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Here’s a quick primer on some key witnesses who’ve testified so far in the high-profile trial.
Here’s how testimony unfolded on Friday
4:20 p.m — Judge Cannone asks to review video, photos of vehicles to determine if they are admissible
With the jurors out of the courtroom, Judge Beverly Cannone asked prosecutors to email her copies of the video showing Karen Read’s vehicle backing out of John O’Keefe’s driveway and other images of the two vehicles. She said she would review them before deciding whether they are admissible.
”It’s late, I’m not ruling here, [and] I want to review everything,” she said.
Cannone said she wants to take a closer look at the video. ”Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t see the tire move this time,” she said, referring to O’Keefe’s vehicle. The movement would indicate if the vehicles touched as Read backed out of the driveway.
The trial will resume Monday morning in Dedham.
4 p.m. — Trooper Joseph Paul voir dire testimony, with jurors out of the courtroom
With jurors out of the courtroom, Trooper Joseph Paul said he viewed video footage of Karen Read pulling out of John O’Keefe’s driveway shortly after 5 a.m. on Jan. 29, 2022.
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That footage was played, showing the rear of the SUV coming close to O’Keefe’s parked car as she backs out. Cannone also asked to see a zoomed-in part of the clip previously played by the defense team, which appears to show a tire on O’Keefe’s car moving slightly as Read’s SUV comes close to it.
Photos of O’Keefe’s driver’s side bumper taken after his death were also placed on the monitor. ”There was no damage” to O’Keefe’s vehicle, Paul said.
”The higher the speed the more damage,” Paul said. “The lower speed the less damage.”
Read’s taillight, he said, is 42 to 50 inches off the ground, so O’Keefe’s car would have to show damage at around the same height if it was struck. Read’s SUV, which backed out slowly when it came near O’Keefe’s car, would have had to have struck it at a “higher speed” to cause the extensive damage to her taillight.
3:50 p.m. — Judge sends jurors home, keeps Trooper Paul on the stand
Judge Beverly Cannone sent jurors home for the weekend shortly before 3:50 p.m.
She said Trooper Joseph Paul would remain on the stand, apparently for voir dire out of the presence of jurors.
3:36 p.m. — Trooper Paul testifies that crash test dummy was fully visible from inside SUV at distance of at least five feet
State Police Trooper Joseph Paul, who is assigned to the agency’s collision analysis and reconstruction section, said there were “no obstructions” between the SUV and the dummy during the testing.
At a distance of at least five feet, Paul said, the dummy was fully visible from his vantage point inside the SUV.
A video clip then played on the monitor of the SUV moving in reverse during the testing. Paul said the Lexus had an antilock brake system. ”It doesn’t leave visible tire marks” in a crash, Paul said. “The tires never fully lock up.”
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Antilock brakes also make “no screeching of the tires” in crashes, Paul said.
3:27 p.m — Trooper Paul testifies about cameras ‘working properly’ in Read’s SUV
Joseph Paul said Read’s Lexus SUV also has an overhead camera. As the driver approaches an object, Paul said, a light will flash and the driver will hear a beeping sound.
As the driver gets closer to the object, the beeping gets louder with more frequency, he said.
”Everything seemed to be working properly” in Read’s SUV when he tested it on Feb. 1, 2022, Paul said.
He said a “punching bag dummy” was placed behind Read’s SUV along the “right rear” side during the testing. From inside the vehicle, Paul said, “it would have been visible” on Read’s cameras as the SUV went in reverse.
3:20 p.m. — State Police crash expert testifies O’Keefe appeared to have been hit in ‘sideswipe manner’
State Police Trooper Joseph Paul, who is assigned to the agency’s collision analysis and reconstruction section, said John O’Keefe appeared to have been hit in a “sideswipe manner” and was projected to the left, so the SUV would not have traveled over him.
Paul said a pedestrian’s center mass is along the chest area. On Feb. 1, 2022, he said, he conducted forward and rear acceleration braking tests on the SUV, as well as a check of the Lexus’s cameras to conduct a “visibility analysis.”
He said that analysis was conducted during the daytime hours. Read allegedly struck O’Keefe during the predawn hours under cover of darkness.
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”A lot of times when it’s an intentional act visibility is not an issue,” Paul said, explaining why the analysis wasn’t conducted at night. Paul also identified a photo of the SUV’s “infotainment system,” which contains the rearview cameras for drivers when they’re moving in reverse. He also identified the push-button starter in the interior of the Lexus.
3:01 p.m. — Trooper Paul testifies that data set from Read’s SUV is ‘consistent with’ pedestrian strike
Trooper Joseph Paul said he reviewed possible travel routes from 34 Fairview Road to O’Keefe’s home on Meadows Avenue in Canton where Read traveled after dropping him off.
Paul said he labeled the triggering events as A and B, and that A occurred first. He said event A lasted about 10 seconds, with the SUV traveling at 9.9 m.p.h., slowing down and then going back up to around 6 m.p.h. Paul said it appeared the vehicle was “slowing down and making a U-turn” at that point.
He said event B showed the vehicle hitting speeds of 24.2 m.p.h. He said the data indicates the accelerator pedal was pressed down at 74 percent. He said the data shows the vehicle “was in drive” and slowed down to zero m.p.h. and then moved in reverse.
Paul the steering wheel angle “does not change much” during that seconds long interlude. ”It’s still fairly straight” as it moves backward at a top rate at 24.2 m.p.h., Paul said. He said the data set is “consistent with” a pedestrian strike, as the speed of the SUV went from 24.2 mph to 23.6 m.p.h. in less than second. O’Keefe’s injuries, Paul said, were also “consistent with a pedestrian collision.”
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2:36 p.m. — Trooper testifies about safety system data, ‘triggering event’ information extracted from Read’s Lexus
Trooper Joseph Paul said taillight pieces and a shoe were found alongside the roadway, which would put the “area of impact” close to the road.
Lexus vehicles such as Read’s are equipped with a safety system that records data to the automobiles, Paul said. The system has a “vehicle control history” that monitors driving behavior, he said.
Data collected includes speed, brake application, steering wheel angles, and engine RPM, he said.
Data from Read’s SUV was extracted on Feb. 2, 2023, Paul said, a year after his initial inspection. He said the data captured a page and a half of “triggers” on Read’s vehicle to connote events such as a sudden stop.
There were a number of triggers logged between miles 12,665 and 12,666 that were related to his testing, Paul said. There were two triggering events logged earlier at mile 12,629, Paul said. The lawyers were then called to sidebar.
2:18 p.m. — Trooper Paul testifies about airbag control module in Read’s vehicle
Trooper Joseph Paul said an airbag control module has information regarding a vehicle’s speed, steering wheel movements, and brake applications. The module on Read’s vehicle provided “no data recovered,” Paul said. He said that is not uncommon.
The module, he said, is searching for a “sudden change in velocity” to determine whether to deploy airbags or tighten seatbelt.
Striking a pedestrian would typically have “very little” impact on the velocity of a vehicle, Paul said. He said when a pedestrian is struck they will move in the same direction as the vehicle.
”It’s not uncommon for pedestrians to lose ... any sort of loose clothing,” Paul said. “Shoes, belts, hats. Anything that is not strapped on very well could leave the body.” He said drinking glasses would fall into that category.
2:11 p.m. — Troopers who checked Read SUV reported ‘no issues’ with acceleration, breaking, Paul testifies
Joseph Paul said troopers conducted two reverse acceleration tests on Read’s SUV. He said he noted no mechanical issues with the accelerator pedal during the testing.
The SUV “was fairly easy to keep control of” while moving in reverse, he said.
Paul said the troopers also conducted reverse braking tests on the SUV.
”The brake pedal was firm” with no issues during the testing, Paul said, adding that troopers conducted forward braking tests as well. ”No issues” were detected with the forward testing either, he said.
2:04 p.m. Paul indentifies photos, points out scratches, dents, broken taillight on Read SUV
Trooper Paul identified photos of the SUV in the Canton police garage that he took on Feb. 1, 2022. He pointed out scratches and dents on the rear of the SUV as well as the broken taillight and glass on the bumper.
”It appeared to be from a cup, as opposed to any glass” that came from the SUV, Paul said.
He said the SUV’s headlights and taillights were both LED lights. Paul said authorities tested the acceleration and braking system on Read’s SUV in the police station parking lot.
1:55 p.m. — Trooper Paul testifies about analyzing damage to Read’s SUV
State Trooper Joseph Paul returned to the stand following the lunch break. He said he didn’t include every piece of taillight discovered at Fairview scene in his diagram of the scene.
Paul said O’Keefe came to rest in an area on the lawn where there was no overhead lighting. He said he also went to the Canton PD garage on Feb. 1, 2022 to “image the airbag control module” in Read’s SUV.
”At that point we just analyzed the damage to the vehicle,” he added. Paul said troopers also performed a mechanical inspection of the SUV’s steering and brake pedals.
12:25 p.m. — Prosecutors call State Police Trooper Joseph Paul, collision and reconstruction analyst, to the stand
Joseph Paul said he has worked for the State Police for more than 12 years. He’s currently assigned to the agency’s collision analysis and reconstruction section, he said. His unit has an on-call system, Paul said.
Paul said he has undergone hundreds of hours of in-service training with the unit and has investigated 55 pedestrian crashes, including the Read case. Paul said he conducted tests on Read’s SUV and examined its airbag control module, or ATM.
Paul said he went to the Canton police station on Feb. 1, 2022, to examine Read’s SUV. He said he also traveled to 34 Fairview Road, where John O’Keefe’s body was found, on that day. Paul identified photos of the roadway before they were posted on the monitor for jurors.
”It was an asphalt roadway,” Paul said.
Paul said the travel lanes on Fairview were approximately 12 feet wide, with the entire street about 27 feet in width. He said a drone took a series of aerial photographs as well. Paul said investigators measured the road’s elevation and looked for “roadway evidence,” such as tire marks or debris.
He identified a diagram on the monitor showing the spot where O’Keefe was found, where a glass cup was found, and where plastic pieces and a shoe were discovered. Paul said the shoe was found about nine feet from O’Keefe’s body. The glass cup was about a foot away, some plastic was about seven feet away, and additional plastic was about 12 feet away, he said.
Judge Beverly Cannone called a lunch recess shortly before 1 p.m., with Paul scheduled to return to the stand around 1:45 p.m.
12:15 p.m. — Digital forensic specialist resumes testimony under cross-examination
Jessica Hyde, a digital forensic examiner, said to Read attorney David Yannetti that the 2:27 a.m. timestamp of Jennifer McCabe’s search for “hos [sic] long to die in cold” was not accurate.
”That timestamp is not indicative of the time of search,” Hyde said. “I can’t say that timestamp tells me anything about the time of search.”
Yannetti asked if her analysis does not rule out a search at or before 2:27 a.m., and she said there was “no indication” of such a search.
Yannetti asked if she was given specific instructions by State Police Detective Lieutenant Brian Tully. Hyde said Tully asked her to focus on the phone’s search history for Jan. 29, 2022. She told Yannetti she was not asked to examine call logs on the phone. Hyde then stepped down.
11:35 a.m. — Jessica Hyde, a digital forensic examiner, continues her testimony about McCabe Google search
Hyde said her research and development work in the field gives her a deeper understanding of how data moves on an electronic device. She said an affidavit from a defense investigator erroneously concluded McCabe’s search was conducted at 2:27 a.m. and later deleted.
”My conclusion is that there was a search at [2:27 a.m.]” for a sports team and later McCabe’s search was done at 6:23 a.m. and 6:24 a.m. in the same browser tab.
”I had no evidence of deletion” of the searches, Hyde said.
Judge Beverly Cannone called a brief morning recess around 11:45 a.m.
10:45 a.m. — Jessica Hyde, a digital forensic examiner, is the next witness
Before Hyde took the stand, Judge Beverly Cannone told jurors that a second juror had been excused from the case for personal reasons. The panel still has a total of 14 members, including two alternates.
In addition, the pool camera was shut down temporarily. (Later Friday, court spokesperson Jennifer Donahue confirmed that the pool camera was “shut down because of an inadvertent display of a juror. The Court allowed the camera to resume recording after seeing the video and determining that it was accidental.”)
Hyde, whose biography states that she has provided forensics services to the Department of Defense and the intelligence community, said authorities contacted her company in May 2023 about the Read case.
Hyde said she reviewed Jennifer McCabe’s Google search terms. McCabe testified that she Googled “hos [sic] long to die in cold” shortly after 6:30 a.m. at Read’s request after the discovery of John O’Keefe’s body in the snow.
The defense has cited records indicating the search was conducted shortly before 2:30 a.m., suggesting O’Keefe’s body was discovered hours earlier, after Read had left Fairview Road and returned home.
Hyde said she processed the image of McCabe’s searches with a number of standard forensic tools.
”Different forensics tools have different capabilities,” Hyde said.
One resource called the Sanderson tool allows analysts to take a deeper look at data, she said. Hyde said she examined McCabe’s searches and was “specifically” looking to see if a search term had been deleted.
”The tools will often flag certain data as recovered,” she said, adding that there can be “confusion” regarding the difference between recovery and deletion.
Hyde said she reviewed McCabe’s two searches related to dying in the cold. She said most of her forensic tools picked up the searches. The term “hos [sic] long to die in cold” was marked as recovered, Hyde said.
Hyde said “deletion from the database” can occur when a user closes a tab on a device.
”But what that’s doing is not a user requesting deletion,” Hyde said.
Read’s lawyers have previously alleged that McCabe, whose sister lived at the Fairview Road home, deleted the search.
Hyde said she compiled a report on McCabe’s searches. The report was placed on the monitor for jurors.
Hyde said a search timestamped at 2:27 a.m. on McCabe’s phone said “hos long to die in cold.”
But ”that is not the time necessarily of the search,” she said. Hyde said another search at 2:27 a.m. on the phone had to do with youth sports, which is what McCabe has testified she was Googling at that time.
”It appears that that’s when this [browser] tab was open” and the first search was conducted, Hyde said.
She said a search timestamped at 6:22 a.m. for “how long ti to die in ckld,” prompted a term suggested by Apple, indicating the user hadn’t made the search term previously. A search timestamped at 6:24 a.m. also asked about how long to die in the cold, Hyde said.
The 2:27 a.m. timestamp reflects the last time the tab was touched or moved to the background at the time of the sports search, Hyde said. The tab was in “continual use” until the 6:23 a.m. and 6:24 a.m. searches, Hyde said.
Hyde said certain databases function as storage areas for phones.
”There’s a lot of places we can recover data from,” Hyde said.
She said a common misconception is that data stored in one area, called a “write-ahead log,” has been deleted or marked for deletion by the user.
Reconstructing the log allows analysts to determine whether users deleted the terms, Hyde said.
”I don’t see evidence that the term was searched prior to that 6:24 time,” Hyde said of McCabe’s search. “Is there a possibility that the tab was closed? Absolutely, but that is not a deletion.”
McCabe has testified that she did not delete the searches.
Hyde said she did “quite a bit of testing” on the phone. She said tabs were manipulated and Google searches were performed to check to see how data was moving.
Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com. Nick Stoico can be reached at nick.stoico@globe.com.
