Recap: Karen Read court hearing to address issue of ‘grave concern' to judge

We'll be breaking down this hearing with experts — and learning more about the lawyers involved in the case — in a brand-new episode of "Canton Confidential" tonight at 7 p.m. ET.

Watch it on air on NBC10 Boston or on FAST TV, our digital platforms or YouTube channel — where you can also watch the entire hearing.

After hours of arguments about the rules lawyers have to follow about being truthful in court, and whether Karen Read's lawyers have followed them, Cannone adjourned the court for the day.

She scheduled three hearings for next week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Wednesday's hearing in Norfolk Superior Court will come after Read's lawyers appear in federal court in Boston, where they've appealed to have two charges in the first case thrown out.

After Alessi's rebuttal, Brennan took issue about what he called "verbal gymnastics" about claims of misrepresentation, and pointed to a court filing on Feb. 16 — nine days ago — that was signed by Jackson, Alessi and David Yannetti on their opposition to the prosecution's request to exclude ARCCA experts from the retrial.

In it, Brennan read, the lawyers affirmed the experts "were not hired or paid for by the defense," prompting a sigh from Cannone.

After Brennan finished, Alessi pushed back on several points.

He said there was a "rational, more probable explanation" for ARCCA's invoice in the case, which is that they'd been getting paid for by the federal government, and that matter of what they expected about payment is different from what the defense expected.

Following a question from Cannone, Jackson argued that he wasn't being untruthful on whether, in a recent conversation, he said he hadn't paid for their testimony, stipulating that he only felt he paid for their time.

Alessi also argued that Brennan mischaracterized a conversation in court where the defense noted they had indeed spoken with the the ARCCA experts, specifying, "we've not been able to interview them," to say that they had been clear about their communications.

And he also pushed back against a claim from Brennan saying that the experts' opinions changed after they were brought on as defense experts, saying that wasn't true.

Throughout his presentation, Brennan emphasized a point that there appear to be gaps in the communication between the ARCCA experts and the defense lawyers, as evident in things like the bill for ARCCA's work, raising a question of the timeline of when payment was promised.

"When you look at the story on this bill, and the timing of it and the details of it, we know that we are getting a fraction of the story. It's not enough to blame the court, blame the commonwealth, blame the U.S. Attorney's Office," he said.

He noted a recent statement Jackson made to a reporter that he didn't pay the bill, though both sides found out Tuesday that the defense paid the bill.

"What we're left with is we still don't know about the relationship between the defense and ARCCA," Brennan said.

Brennan says there is no issue with paying expert witnesses. But it has to be revealed
Says he didn’t know until today that the bill was paid.
Seems everyone knew they were getting paid except the defense

— Sue O'Connell: COMMENTATOR, not a reporter (@SueNBCBoston) February 25, 2025

Brennan opened his argument by saying that, in the first trial, the defense portrayed the ARCCA experts as independent, and "left the impression that there was no bias."

But, he continued, "it is clear from a reading of the transcripts and the records and the posturing of the materials that there was information that showed that ARCCA was not wholly independent."

He referred to the state's code of ethics, and that "providing information when the avalance has started is not enough."

After an hourslong presentation by the defense — and after the lunch break, questions for the rest of the defense team on whether they disputed anything Alessi said — special prosecutor Hank Brennan is up, speaking before Judge Cannone about the issues he presented last week, leading to the hearing's suspension.

Returning from a recess, Alessi further tries to show that the defense did provide reciprocal discovery to the Commonwealth concerning the ARCCA experts.

He shifts focus to what he described as inaccuracies and misstatements made by the Commonwealth during last week's hearing, referencing emails sent concerning discovery to try to illustrate what information had been given. He then pointed out that he hoped both sides of the case would see the same treatment in such scenarios.

"Being a lawyer in a case like this is hard. Being a judge in a case like this is hard. Mistakes are going to be made,” Alessi said.

He claims that the Commonwealth presentation made 10 mistakes before last week's hearing was suspended.

He later points out that the rules concern whether a lawyer knowingly made a false statement or misstatement, and if they then try to make a correction if they are aware of that mistake. The issue of whether the false information was shared knowingly, Alessi said, is relevant to how it should be approached by the court.

Alessi continues his line-for-line walkthrough of email communications between defense counsel and ARCCA witnesses.

He claims that statements made by the Commonwealth are false, saying that Brennan's argument was based on receiving important information from the federal government, when it was actually the defense that provided the information.

He adds that the defense was accused of drafting the outline of the questioning, which also was not the case.

"That is not a fact, but if that were true that would be very bad," Alessi said.

Cannone said court would return at 2 p.m.

Alessi said that the invoice came out of the blue, and that the U.S. Attorney's Office told defense it would be okay to pay it.

The invoice came on July 12. A check was sent July 25 by a staff member at Jackson's law office.

Cannone called for a 15 minute recess at 12:15 p.m.

Alessi says that discussions of potential engagement or retainer between the defense counsel and the witnesses were paused in March ahead of the trial and were never reengaged.

He also said that an outline of the direct examination of Dr. Wolf was not drafted by Jackson, but by Wolfe himself.

He says Wolf sent it to Jackson the day before he went on the stand, and that Jackson was preparing his questions without the outline. Alessi added that the actual line of questions that Jackson asked did not match the outline.

Following along with every twist in the hearing is our own courtroom insider, Sue O'Connell, who is tweeting the reaction from Norfolk Superior Court live.

I'm covering the Karen Read case today. I'll be in the courtroom for today’s hearing.
Follow this 🧵 for courtroom reaction.
Follow @JohnNBCBoston for reporting. https://t.co/B4Sv3vGRFp

— Sue O'Connell: COMMENTATOR, not a reporter (@SueNBCBoston) February 25, 2025

She noted it was quiet in court, though special prosecutor Hank Brennan was heckled as he walked in before the hearing.

Very quiet in the court. Both teams reviewing documents. Karen Read was speaking with her father but is now also reviewing documents. She’s also in charge of the Tic Tac mints, placing a dispenser in the middle of the defense table.

— Sue O'Connell: COMMENTATOR, not a reporter (@SueNBCBoston) February 25, 2025

Follow Sue for even more updates, both today and from further hearings.

Alessi says that statements made by Yannetti during an exchange with Cannone that has come under the microscope over concerns raised by the Commonwealth are accurate

During last summer's first trial, Cannone expressed skepticism about three witnesses that Yannetti had "never spoken to."

Yannetti responded "that's essentially it," Alessi said, adding that Yannetti added they had spoken "only for the purposes of coordination of testimony and their background."

Yannetti said they had not been able to interview them about their findings, according to Alessi.

Alessi called the matter of the ARCCA crash reconstruction experts "one of the most unusual situations I've ever seen in my practice of law" because of the constraints around how that information could be used in court — they were part of a federal investigation, and the judge didn't want jurors to know about that investigation so they could assess only the charges Read was indicted on.

Alessi said that the defense's opening statement didn't mention the ARCCA experts: "the most powerful exculpatory information from what we consider some of the most powerful witnesses were not mentioned because the defense didn't even know if they would be testifying."

He called that important, because it indicates that there was no agreement between the defense and the experts, or they would have been mentioned.

Lawyer Robert Alessi said he would be speaking on behalf of Karen Read's defense team, and announced he'd just given a notebook to prosecutors. He passed that to Cannone as well, who took a break to review it.

He explained that he would be going through lots of facts about what happened, noting, "my intention is going to be to elucidate and to illuminate so that your honor can make the proper determination."

Alessi is the newest member of Read's team representing her in Norfolk Superior Court.

Judge Beverly Cannone says that she suspended last week's hearing after learning of a previously undisclosed "relationship perhaps" between the defense counsel and ARCCA witnesses.

She said she was made aware of several instances of communication, including emails before the first trial began, proposed questions and after the trial an invoice that included an expense for trial prep.

The Commonwealth raised questions of candor, and Cannone thought it would be fair to give the defense time to prepare a response.

"What the Commonwealth raised does raise serious issues on not just the rights of counsel but Ms. Read's right to a fair trial and all that that entails."

Cannone also said what the Commonwealth told her was inconsistent with her memory and she needed time to review transcripts.

Lawyers are back in court for this highly anticipated hearing, with Judge Beverly Cannone presiding.

After today's hearing, join us for a special edition of Canton Confidential at 7 p.m.