Former judge says jury’s doubt about experts may impact Karen Read murder trial result

Whenever there’s a battle of the experts, it’s the jurors who hold the winning hand, according to a retired Massachusetts judge. 

Retrying the case against Karen Read for the alleged murder of her former boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, seems to be in motion.

Read, aged 45, is accused of causing his death by striking him with an SUV and abandoning him outside a residence on Fairview Road in Canton, Massachusetts. O’Keefe succumbed to a skull fracture and hypothermia during a snowstorm on January 29, 2022.

The defense is also focused on casting doubt on the testimony of the prosecution’s accident experts, Dr. Judson Welcher and Shanon Burgess of Aperture.

Welcher testified last week that he believes “[O’Keefe’s injuries are] consistent with being struck by a Lexus and also contacting a hard surface, such as frozen ground.” Wolfe found that the injuries were inconsistent when stacked up against the damage to Read’s SUV as well as the damage to O’Keefe’s clothing – which prosecutors allege had fragments of taillight plastic embedded in it.

Lu said that he expects jury instructions to include a note that the experts don’t decide the facts – jurors do.

Karen Read and John O’Keefe pose for an undated photograph. (Karen Read)

“Juries are not in the least bit cowed by experts,” he said. “To the contrary, they view them with skepticism.”

Especially “hired guns,” he added.

Jurors will be looking at the case as a whole, but while Lu said he believes Brennan scored a victory on the day, the defense has a significant advantage.

“The defense need not prove anything; they merely must establish reasonable doubt,” said Mark Bederow, a New York City defense lawyer who is representing Canton blogger and Read ally Aidan Kearney. “But over the course of a few hours, Dr. Wolfe cast serious doubt by methodically dismantling the key premise of the prosecution case – through multiple scientific examinations and effective video he offered support for his opinion that the damage to the taillight was not consistent with the collision alleged by the prosecution.”

Read’s team is expected to rest their case next week. She could face up to life in prison if convicted of the top charge.