Karen Read’s retrial (live video): Final witnesses expected this week before defense rests case

DEDHAM, Mass. — The final three witnesses in Karen Read’s murder retrial are expected to take the stand this week before the defense rests its case and closing arguments begin.

Read, 45, is accused of striking John O’Keefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend, with her Lexus SUV and leaving him to die alone in a blizzard outside of a house party in Canton at the home of fellow officer Brian Albert on Jan. 29, 2022, following a night of drinking.

Monday marks Day 29 of Read’s retrial and the start of possibly the final week of testimony.

WATCH LIVE: Witness testimony resumes at 9 a.m.

NOW ON THE STAND: John Tedeman, private investigator at Forum Investigations

PREVIOUSLY ON THE STAND: Dr. Daniel Wolfe, of ARCCA

Brown University School of Medicine professor takes stand

Dr. Elizabeth Laposata, a former chief medical examiner, was allowed to testify on behalf of the defense, but not about dog bites.

Judge Cannone rules Dr. Elizabeth Laposata is not qualified to testify about dog bites and she's limiting her scope when it comes to her opinions about JOK's injuries not being consistent with a car crash.
— Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) June 9, 2025

Private investigator takes stand

John Tedeman, a private investigator for Forum Investigations, is called to the stand by the defense.

Tedeman, a graduate of the Roxbury Latin School and Princeton University, previously served as a federal agent for the Inspector General’s Office of Social Security Investigations in Boston and Los Angeles.

Tedeman also graduated from Suffolk Law School.

Tedeman testified that he was tapped last week to travel to 34 Fairview Road in Canton to take measurements and photographs after another witness encountered unexpected health issues.

Judge denies defense’s latest mistrial bid

Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone denies Read lawyer Robert Alessi’s request for a mistrial after special prosecutor Hank Brennan admits he “made a mistake” during his cross-examination of Dr. Daniel Wolfe, of ARCCA.

Judge denies mistrial motion. She said she will give instructions to the jury to disregard holes in the back if the hoody and tell jury they were cut by a criminalist from the Commonwealth

Brennan had suggested that when he responded to Alessi

HB: "Your honor, my brief review…
— Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) June 9, 2025

Defense calls for mistrial -- again

After Dr. Daniel Wolfe, of ARCCA, was dismissed from the stand, Read lawyer Robert Alessi called for an immediate mistrial “with prejudice” over the prosecution’s “intentional misconduct.”

Alessi is going all in on this...

RA: "What could be more egregious? What could be more misleading than that?"

RA: "This is intentional. This is irremediable. This is on the key issue of this case, whether there was any collision at all."

RA: "The Commonwealth has no case.…
— Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) June 9, 2025

Breaking: Defense calls for an immediate mistrial in the Karen Read re-trial for showing the jury the back of JOK's hoody. It has holes in it.

Read's attorney Robert Alessi tells judge:
RA: "Attorney Brennan held up the casing with the hoodie, sweatshirt.... Mr. Brennan did not…
— Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) June 9, 2025

Crash expert back on the stand

Dr. Daniel Wolfe, the director of accident reconstruction for ARCCA, returned to the stand after a full day of testimony on Friday.

Follow Ted Daniel’s live court updates:

Brennan now challenging the use of "Rescue Randy" in Dr. Wolfe's testing:

HB: you keep referring to Randy as a crash test dummy? Randy's no dummy, right? He's a mannequin.

DW: He is. But he signifies basically what happens when you have 200 pound of mass striking the rear of…
— Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) June 9, 2025

Brennan continues to challenge Dr. Wolfe on the weight of the crash test arm he used in his testing:

HB: Mr. O'Keefe's, body weight and size does not put him in the 50th percentile like the 9.38 (pound) arm. He's closer to the 95 percentile. Isn't that fair to say?
DW:…
— Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) June 9, 2025

Both sides debated final witnesses before the jury entered. Who can be called/what they can say.

David Yannetti said the defense plans to call an "investigator" to show pictures of the garage at 34 Fairview and give measurements from the flag pole.

Brennan objects saying: "this…
— Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) June 9, 2025

Good morning from 29th day of testimony in the Karen Read trial for the death of John O'Keefe. We are underway.

Dr. Daniel Wolfe from ARCCA is expected back on the stand today. Read says she has 2 more witnesses after him.

There are more people around the courthouse today than… pic.twitter.com/xkbSlLP3D5
— Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) June 9, 2025

Crash expert says damage to SUV, clothing are inconsistent with collision

The federal government initially hired Wolfe as part of an investigation into how law enforcement handled O’Keefe’s death. He testified at Read’s first trial and has since been paid by the defense.

On Friday, Wolfe described conducting numerous tests, including striking a dummy arm with a replica of Read’s SUV taillight at various speeds. He also had an SUV back into both an arm suspended in the air and a full-body dummy wearing clothing that matched what O’Keefe was wearing.

A prosecution expert has testified that O’Keefe’s injuries were consistent with having been struck by a vehicle. But Wolfe said, based on every test he performed, the damage to Read’s taillight and O’Keefe’s clothing was inconsistent with striking an arm or body.

Special prosecutor Hank Brennan tried to discredit Wolfe’s work, pointing out that one of the test videos shown to the jury showed the dummy being struck and spun around without its legs, hips, or torso coming into contact with the vehicle.

"You’ve done no studies on hard ground, like a front yard, have you?" Brennan asked Wolfe.

Wolfe said, “No, sir.”

Dr. Andrew Rentschler, also of ARCCA, is expected to testify after Wolfe is dismissed. A medical examiner is also expected to take the stand.

Prosecutors allege Read intentionally backed into O’Keefe after she dropped him off at the house party and returned hours later to find him dead. The defense has claimed that she was a victim of a vast police conspiracy and that O’Keefe was fatally beaten by another law enforcement officer at the party.

Read has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence, and leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death.

A mistrial was declared last year after jurors said they were at an impasse and deliberating further would be futile.

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