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Karen Read’s legal team is aiming to capitalize on momentum from a surprising police witness who testified that her taillight was less damaged when he assisted in seizing it with a warrant, compared to photos taken after it reached the Canton Police Department, where it was initially towed.
Taillight fragments weren’t found at the crime scene until later, too, and her defense’s implication is that they could have been planted there.
Wednesday marks the 27th day of Read’s retrial on murder and other charges in the January 2022 death of her then-boyfriend, Boston cop John O’Keefe.
Grace Edwards, a Massachusetts defense lawyer also monitoring the case, described Barros’ testimony as a “bombshell” and stated that the surprise in trial 1 represented “a clear Brady violation” – a term referring to the obligation of prosecutors to disclose exculpatory evidence to the defense.
“The fact that a police officer went to the Omni Hotel to meet with the defense team of a defendant on trial for murder clearly suggests he wanted to share his account,” she told Fox News Digital.
Dr. Judson Welcher, an expert for the prosecution, explained to jurors how he found that O’Keefe appeared to have been struck in the arm by the back corner of Read’s SUV before he fell to the ground and fractured the back of his skull.
Christina Hanley, an analyst with the state police’s crime lab, testified that investigators recovered plastic fragments from O’Keefe’s clothing that were a match with the broken taillight or something made of the same material.
Read could face life in prison if convicted of the top charge, second-degree murder.
