Commonwealth v. Read — Trial Archive
Person Allison McCabe Trial 1Allison McCabe is Colin Albert’s cousin and close friend who testified about picking him up from 34 Fairview Road around midnight on January 28-29, 2022, and her observations of his condition at that time. ← All People
🗣️ Witness

Allison McCabe

Trial 1
423 lines 8 proceedings
Courtroom still of Allison McCabe.

About

Allison McCabe is the cousin and close friend of Colin Albert, one of the partygoers at 34 Fairview Road on the night John O'Keefe died. She testified in Trial 1 that she picked Colin up from the Albert household around midnight, observed no visible injuries on him, and described him as not appearing overly intoxicated. Her testimony introduced text message evidence establishing the timeline of that pickup and photographs of Colin taken two weeks after the incident.

Key Points

  • McCabe testified that when Colin Albert came out of 34 Fairview Road around midnight, she observed no injuries on his face and he did not appear overly intoxicated — testimony directly relevant to the defense's theory that O'Keefe was beaten inside the house that night.
  • During voir dire, Yannetti showed that iPhone message and photo timestamps could be changed. McCabe denied altering the timestamp, and Judge Cannone admitted the testimony while ruling that the defense argument went to weight rather than admissibility.
  • On cross-examination, Yannetti used Life360 entries to challenge McCabe's account that she went straight home after dropping Colin off, including entries he said showed a Canton High School stop and 12-mile drives. McCabe agreed to some early home-circle entries, but said she did not know or remember whether she later left home, denied or did not recall the claimed school and 12-mile movements, questioned the reported two-minute school-to-home interval, and on redirect said Wi-Fi warnings could have affected the entries' accuracy.
  • McCabe agreed that the screenshot was not provided to law enforcement until summer 2023 and that no forensic extraction had been performed on her phone; Yannetti questioned her about the delay.
  • On redirect, ADA Lally elicited testimony about harassment directed at McCabe and Colin Albert's families, offering context for the delayed disclosure of the screenshot and rebutting the inference that the delay reflected fabrication.

Trial Record (8)

Trial 1 First Criminal Trial Apr 29, 2024 – Jul 1, 2024 8 proceedings

Day 12

Direct Allison McCabe Adam Lally 3 highlights 148 lines spoken
Summary

Alli McCabe described picking up Colin Albert at 34 Fairview Road, driving him home, and later identifying phone-message screenshots.

Highlights (3)
Quote

“It started with a team dinner at my house. The hockey team came over. We had dinner. Then I went to my sister's basketball game at Canton High School. Then I was hanging out with two of my friends. We were driving around. Then night ended with me driving Colin Albert home.”

McCabe gave a concise account of the sequence of her evening before she picked up Colin Albert.

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Quote

“I've known Colin since I've been born. Our families are very close. We went to high school together, school together growing up, in the same friend group. So we're very close.”

McCabe described her longstanding relationship with Colin Albert.

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Key Moment

McCabe identified phone screenshots of her messages and Colin's contact information; the defense objected when the Commonwealth sought their admission, and the court called counsel to sidebar.

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Direct Allison McCabe Adam Lally 2 highlights 37 lines spoken
Summary

McCabe authenticated text messages with Colin and photographs from a February 11 gathering; the court admitted Exhibits 81–83.

Highlights (2)
Key Moment

McCabe testified that photographs were taken on February 11, 2022, at Nicole and Brian's house during a welcome-home gathering; the court admitted them as Exhibits 82 and 83.

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Cross Allison McCabe David Yannetti 2 highlights 139 lines spoken
Summary

McCabe was questioned about the screenshot's timing and verification, the lack of phone extraction, and Life360 entries she did not fully recall.

Highlights (2)
Quote

“Because Colin was not at the house and wasn't introduced as being there until later.”

McCabe explained why she did not consider the text conversation relevant at the time.

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Quote

“It wouldn't have taken me two minutes to go from the high school to my house. I'm confused.”

McCabe expressed confusion while responding to counsel's questions about the Life360 timeline.

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Redirect Allison McCabe Adam Lally 2 highlights 28 lines spoken
Summary

McCabe addressed the reliability of phone and Life360 records, then testified about harassment directed at Colin Albert and her family.

Highlights (2)
Quote

“Well, I'm not sure. But on the photo he showed me, it says, like, turn WiFi on. So like remind Alli to turn WiFi on. So that kind of affected the accuracy.”

McCabe qualified the reliability of the Life360 timestamps raised on cross-examination.

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Quote

“People showing up at our house. People emailing my school. Just a lot of harassment. Could I have a moment, pleases?”

McCabe described the impact of the harassment testimony and paused before continuing.

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Locations Touched By This Testimony

34 Fairview Road 4 procs