Recap: Karen Read retrial's opening statements, first witnesses

Cannone ended Tuesday's court hearing by changing the schedule for Friday, letting the jurors stay home so the prosecution and defense can question the ARCCA witness through what's called a voir dire hearing.

That hearing is necessary to vet the experts before they can be called in the case, Cannone said.

"This appears to be … another violation of my order and of the reciprocal discovery violations. We need to figure all this out," Cannone said, though Alesi had just argued that was not the case.

With that court ended for the day.

After a brief break, Cannone had Brennan and defense lawyer Robert Alessi argue their positions over the defense's expert witnesses from crash reconstruction firm ARCCA, the group hired by federal investigators to look into O'Keefe's death. The defense intends to use their testimony in their arguments that O'Keefe wasn't hit by an SUV.

Brennan said there are extensive records of contact between the defense and ARCCA which he hadn't been made aware of, including 52 minutes of phone calls.

"I find it difficult to accept that these were all for scheduling purposes," he said, calling the record "woefully incomplete."

Alessi argued passionately that Brennan misstated facts about communications, but when he said that two-year-old texts with ARCCA no longer exist to provide to the prosecution, he was pressed by Cannone on whether legal ethics rules require Read's team to preserve those texts for five years.

Roberts described being in the car with Read and McCabe as they drove around Canton looking for O'Keefe. Brennan asked about one of O'Keefe's ex-girlfriends, a mom who lived in the neighborhood whom Read mentioned during the drive.

As they drove down Fairview Road, McCabe mentioned that her sister's house — the one O'Keefe had been at the night before — was coming up, and Read suddenly yelled, "There he is, there he is, let me the 'f' out of this car!"

Roberts didn't notice anything where Read was looking at first, and told McCabe that Read was crazy, but saw Read run to a mound of snow that she then realized was the length of a body.

At that point in the testimony, Cannone stopped questioning and excused Roberts, who will return to the stand Wednesday.

But court was still in session, however — Cannone was set to hear arguments from the lawyers over motions.

Roberts described the night before O'Keefe's death — her husband had been out with him and Read, but came home around 10:30 p.m.

She was woken up by a call from Read at 5 a.m., in which Read yelled, "'Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, John's dead,' and then she hung up," Roberts said.

She didn't have a chance to have a conversation, Roberts said, and "she was yelling loud enough … that she woke my husband."

They spoke again — "She said, 'We drank so much I don't remember anything from last night,'" Roberts recalled — and they arranged to meet so Roberts could drive Read around to look for O'Keefe, even though Roberts assumed he was sleeping on someone's couch.

Roberts eventually met up with Read, who was with another woman, Jennifer McCabe. A taillight on Read's SUV was missing a piece, she noted, though she didn't think it was important. (Prosecutors allege that's the part of the SUV that hit O'Keefe.)

Roberts recalled how she knew O'Keefe — they'd known each other back to their school days, but they became close once he took over the care of his niece and nephew following his wife's death. O'Keefe was an emergency contact for her own kids.

She later got to know Read once she started dating O'Keefe and helped out with his niece and nephew.

Brennan moved on to the night before O'Keefe's death.

The second witness in the retrial is Kerry Roberts, but before she took the stand, the prosecution asked to introduce a segment of Read speaking in an Investigation Discovery docuseries about wondering about her own recollection of the morning O'Keefe was found.

"Do I remember that on my own?" Read said, adding, "Did I really say ['I hit him'] as many times as law enforcement's claiming?"

Roberts then took the stand. She was one of the women who accompanied Read as they looked for and found O'Keefe's body.

Both Brennan and Jackson used the redirect portion of cross-examination — where lawyers can ask follow-up questions of the witness — about if and when Nuttall heard Read say, "I hit him" repeatedly.

Jackson spent several minutes quizzing Nuttall about when it would have been been possible for his story to have taken place, based on the video showed in court. Nuttall didn't see the contradiction that Jackson did.

NBC10 Boston courtroom insider Sue O'Connell, who's in the room for the hearing, said a juror was laughing a bit about it.

Jackson maintains he showed Nuttall the scene that matches what he testified 3.5 years ago.
Nuttall says Karen approached him.
There is one juror who is now laughing a little bit about bit and shaking his head.

— Sue O'Connell: COMMENTATOR, not a reporter (@SueNBCBoston) April 22, 2025

Brennan followed up, asking if Nuttall recalled previously testifying that he heard Read say "I hit him" in the background of the scene. he did.

Jackson showed a dashcam video from the scene, asking Nuttall to narrate which first responder was doing what.

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Jackson ended his cross-examination after that, and a quick clarification with Nuttall that he's not qualified to make medical diagnoses.

Brennan returned for a response, showing a different portion of a recording of video from the day, which Nuttall confirmed is when he heard Read say, "I hit him, I hit him, I hit him"

He also asked Nuttall to confirm that it stood out to him that all of O'Keefe's injuries were on his right side, which he did, among other things on Nuttall's role in the response.

With cross-examination underway again, Jackson questioned Nuttall repeatedly over what he does or does not remember from the scene of the crash and the subsequent investigation.

Jackson started by asking why Nuttall didn't mention in the morning's testimony that paramedic Katie McLaughlin was among those who were present at the scene in Canton.

Jackson asked about debriefing about the incident with his fellow firefighters, but Nuttall said he didn't remember. Jackson noted that Nuttall had said his memory got better with time.

Nuttall also insisted he didn't tell Proctor, the case's lead investigator, he has "no recollection of ever saying anybody prayed over anybody in this case."

A person was arrested near Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday, Massachusetts State Police said, though they weren't able to share more details.

NBC10 Boston crews witnessed a person being detained in a white van around the start of the Karen Read retrial. He asked for medical assistance.

NBC10 Boston has reached out to police for more information on what happened.

Court is back in session, with Canton firefighter Nutall back on the stand. Follow along here.

Here's a first look at some of the images captured inside and outside of court on Tuesday, the first day of Karen Read's second trial.

You can see more photos here.

In the midst of Timothy Nuttall's cross-examination by defense attorney Alan Jackson, Judge Beverly Cannone called a temporary halt to the proceedings just after 1 p.m. so the jury could break for lunch.

She said testimony is expected to resume in about 30-40 minutes.

Jackson asks how many times Nuttall has spoken with the prosecution about the testimony. He said three times, including one Monday night.

He said one topic discussed was how many times he recalled hearing Read reportedly say "I hit him."

Jackson hammered at this point, asking if his memory has improved with time. He had Nuttall acknowledge that last year he testified that Read said "I hit him" twice, and this year he claims she said it three times.

Jackson clearly wanted Nuttall to emphasize that his testimonies were inconsistent. Nuttall said that now he remembers Read saying it three times.

Jackson also brought up previous testimony by Nuttall saying that O'Keefe was wearing a puffy coat, which turned out to be a false memory.

Nuttall then walked through the process of getting O'Keefe into the truck for transport and intubating him. The first responders turned the heat all the way up in the truck and took the wet clothes off of O'Keefe.

Nuttall said O'Keefe had a big bump over his right eye and several scratches on his right arm, adding that matted blood was discovered in his hair on the back of his head.

Once they arrived at the hospital, the first responders handed off care to providers there.

The defense played dashcam footage of the scene where O'Keefe was found dead, and introduced a photo of O'Keefe's arm injuries as an exhibit.

Nuttall said that the lead paramedic on the call determined that the incident was a "workable cardiac arrest."

Nuttall said he then tried giving O'Keefe air while another administered CPR, and when he looked up, saw a woman with blood on her face, who he identified as Read.

Nuttall said that Read said "I hit him, I hit him, I hit him," when he asked for history regarding O'Keefe.

He said that Read walked away before he could ask follow up questions.

Nuttall said he left for work early that morning due to the snowy weather conditions. He arrived shortly before 6 a.m. He said the roads weren't in great condition and the wind and snow were picking up.

As Nuttall entered work, he said he heard an emergency tone and they were dispatched to an unresponsive man in a snowbank. He described the crew that were being sent and said he joined the crew as a paramedic for another set of hands.

He said that he made sure all the equipment was ready to go while they were en route to the scene.

When Nuttall arrived on the scene, he stepped out of the truck and he said that he heard a distant screaming through the worsening weather. Then, he made his way toward where he heard the screams, he said, and when he turned the corner of the truck he said he saw three people with Canton police officers.

He saw a human figure in the snow laying on his back, and checked for signs of life. He said he could not find breathing or a pulse, and said his skin was cold to the touch.

Timothy Nuttall has been called to the stand as the first witness of Karen Read's retrial.

Nuttall is a 28-year-old firefighter and paramedic with the Canton Fire Department who responded when O'Keefe was found unresponsive.

Jackson is claiming corruption led to Read's charges by alleging the Alberts' connections and influence in the Canton community tainted the investigation.

He says that the flawed investigation will create reasonable doubt for the jury.

"She's the victim of a botched and biased investigation that was never about the truth," Jackson said of his client, Read.

Read's defense continues their opening statement, as Jackson tries to sow doubt into the jury toward the state's charges against Read.

Jackson said they plan to call a town plow driver to the stand, who will testify that he did not see a body on the lawn of 34 Fairview early in the morning.

The plow driver will also testify that there was a car near where the body was later found at 3:30 a.m. that day, according to Jackson, who says this is even more reasonable doubt.

Jackson said that Brian Higgins drove to his office at Canton police at 1:25 a.m. and later that morning, had a conversation over the phone with Brian Albert — Jackson says that they both denied making the calls, and then later said it was a "butt dial."

He also mentions the now-infamous Google search by Jennifer McCabe — "Hos long to die in cold," which the defense claims was searched before she and Read found O'Keefe's body that morning.

Jackson is going over the night before O'Keefe was found dead.

He says that Read and O'Keefe were in a good mood and were on a date when they met up with the others.

Jackson claims that O'Keefe went into the home at Fairview Road belonging to Brian and Nicole Albert after the bars, and Read got upset that he didn't come back out.

Jackson said that the defense will have evidence that John O'Keefe's injuries were not consistent with being hit by a car. He showed an image of the injuries on O'Keefe's arms, and said they appeared to be from a dog, and alluded to the Alberts' dog.

Alan Jackson is giving the opening statements for the defense.

He says the prosecution's case is the "definition of reasonable doubt."

Jackson is going after Michael Proctor, the lead investigator of the case, who has since been fired from Massachusetts State Police. He called him "a cancer that can't be cut out."

“Do you have any idea how hard it is for a State Trooper to get fired?”

Brennan goes over cell phone timelines that the defense pieced together using cell phone data.

He is now going over the morning after the night — including what he describes as a panicked Read calling Jennifer McCabe and Kerry Roberts to help her look for O'Keefe, and later the three coming across his body in the snow at 34 Fairview.

Brennan detailed the conversation Peggy O'Keefe had with Karen Read at the hospital, and also at the family home.

Brennan says John O'Keefe’s DNA and hair was on the car. Brennan clapped his hands when describing how John hit his head, setting up his neurosurgeon expert’s future testimony.

Handout | NBC10 Boston

Brennan is now going over the alleged tension between O'Keefe and Read, saying that their relationship was "unraveling."

"When he would try to push away, she would come closer," Brennan said.

He then discussed data from O'Keefe's cell phone that the defense plans to use in their case, including location data, movement data and temperature of the cell phone battery.

Brennan discussed how much Read allegedly drank the night before O'Keefe was found dead, saying the jurors will see video footage from the bars, and also said they will use data from Read's Lexus to illustrate what they say happened.

Brennan accuses Read of admitting to hitting O'Keefe at the scene where he was found as first responders attempted to save his life.

Brennan claims that Read said, "I hit him, I hit him, I hit him."

Brennan said that doctors tried to save O'Keefe at Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton, but it was too late.

"We are here today because John O'Keefe was killed by the actions and conduct by that defendant, Karen Read," Brennan said, alleging that Read hit O'Keefe with her SUV after a drunken argument.

Opening statements are now getting underway.

Hank Brennan, the special prosecutor that the state hired for the retrial, is beginning.

Brennan begins his statement by recounting the first responders going to 34 Fairview Road after getting a call for a cardiac arrest, which of course was John O'Keefe.

Judge Cannone, ahead of opening statements, is explaining what the charges against Read mean. She said a more detailed explanation will be given after the trial and before deliberations.

She reminds the jury that the law must be independent of public opinion, a reminder that seems especially important given the controversial nature of the Read case.

She also urges jurors not to use popular social media sites in an effort to avoid seeing any content related to the case.

Judge Cannone is calling back to order.

The jurors answered a series of questions ensuring they did not do any research on the case since they were last in court.

They are now being read the charges against Read.

Cannone said she got four motions over the weekend in the case.

The two motions that Cannone wants to save for the end of the day have to do with the defense's witnesses.

Cannone called a five minute recess before opening statements.

Judge Beverly Cannone has opened court for the day.

Cannone says a number of motions will be discussed after opening statements.

After pushback from Read's attorney, Robert Alessi, there is a meeting happening at sidebar.

NBC10 Boston's Sue O'Connell says that there is tension outside of court, and that she saw one person detained in a Mass. State Police vehicle.

She added around 9:15 a.m. that the O'Keefe family and friends have entered the courtroom.

Ahead of the retrial, the Commonwealth has listed 86 prospective witnesses they could call to the stand. The defense listed 91, 14 more than they listed ahead of Read's initial trial.

Notable additions to the defense's list of prospective witnesses include Michael Proctor's former supervisor at Mass. State Police, John Fanning, and Canton Deputy Police Chief Thomas Keleher, who lived across from the Albert's home on Fairview where O'Keefe was found dead in the lawn.

A central point of contention in the case is the nature of the relationship between the Proctor, Albert and McCabe families.

Click here for an interactive chart that helps to connect who's who in the case.

NBC10 Boston

Karen Read was seen heading into Norfolk Superior Court ahead of opening statements on Tuesday morning.

She was seen wearing all black, carrying a large tote bag.

Read was accompanied by her legal team, including Alan Jackson, who is pictured to her right.

You can follow along with the latest developments by subscribing to NBC10 Boston's YouTube channel, on our streaming channel, on NBC10Boston.com, in the NBC10 Boston app, and on our social platforms, including TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.

Once opening statements get underway and testimony begins, you'll be able to watch a livestream of the proceedings every day for the duration of the trial on our YouTube channel, on NECN and our streaming channel. We'll also be livestreaming and live blogging the trial on our website and app.

Once the trial starts, you can also watch new episodes of Canton Confidential each night at 7 on air on NBC10 Boston, on our YouTube channel, on our streaming channel or on our website and app. And don't forget to to subscribe to our Canton Confidential podcast for a daily recap of everything that happened in court.

During Monday night's edition of Canton Confidential, we step back and recap what to know ahead of Read's second trial beginning.

Plus, NBC10 Boston legal analyst Michael Coyne shares what to expect from the retrial, and Ronald Estanislao, a juror in the first trial, gives his insight into what it's like to sit on a jury and hear Read's case.