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Karen Read’s defense team has introduced what is believed to be their final expert witness, as her trial for the death of Boston police officer John O’Keefe, which started back in April, is drawing to a close.
The prosecution claims that Read, after a night of drinking, reversed her Lexus into O’Keefe and abandoned him to succumb to his injuries outside a house party during a historic snowstorm on January 29, 2022.
On Tuesday afternoon, Dr. Andrew Rentschler provided brief testimony and is anticipated to continue on the stand for at least another half-day on Wednesday before the defense concludes their case.
Rentschler joined Laposata and another defense witness, Dr. Marie Russell, in the opinion that scratches and cuts on O’Keefe’s arm were not caused by an impact with the taillight. The defense theory is that they were inflicted by a dog bite.
Read told reporters Tuesday that she would not be testifying in her own defense – and that Renstchler is the last witness her team plans to call.
“It’s the right move,” said Grace Edwards, a Massachusetts trial attorney who is closely following the case. “It is the sole decision of the defendant whether to take the stand. In this case, Karen would have to withstand a rigorous cross-examination by Brennan, which would include clips from the documentary and any other evidence they have that we don’t know about from other statements she made.”
She would also have to face questions about her drinking, Edwards said, which could break the “upward momentum” of her defense as expert witnesses have repeatedly contradicted prosecutors’ claims.
