Person Anthony Flematti Trial 1Canton firefighter and paramedic Anthony Flematti was the lead first responder at 34 Fairview Road on January 29, 2022, and testified that Karen Read repeatedly told him "I hit him" at the scene. ← All People
🗣️ Witness

Anthony Flematti

Trial 1
454 lines 5 proceedings
Courtroom still of Anthony Flematti.

About

Anthony Flematti is a Canton Fire Department firefighter and paramedic who responded to the 6:06 AM emergency dispatch to 34 Fairview Road during the January 29, 2022 snowstorm. As the lead paramedic on scene, he assessed and treated John O'Keefe, who was found unresponsive and buried to mid-chest in snow. Flematti's testimony in Trial 1 centered on two key areas: his clinical observations of O'Keefe's condition and injuries, and Karen Read's repeated statement — 'I hit him, I hit him, oh my God, I hit him' — which he relayed as a potential explanation for O'Keefe's injuries. His account was subjected to detailed cross-examination over the absence of that statement from his written paramedic report.

Key Points

  • Flematti described arriving at the scene in pre-dawn darkness during a heavy snowstorm with near-zero visibility, finding O'Keefe buried in snow up to mid-chest with two women — one performing chest compressions — moving between the body and the yard.
  • On direct examination, Flematti testified that when he asked Read what had happened, she gave only one response, repeating 'I hit him, I hit him, oh my God, I hit him' — a statement he said was made in a separate conversation from the one McLaughlin was having with Read.
  • Flematti offered medical observations suggesting a timeline of injury: dried, clotted lacerations on O'Keefe's arm that he believed had stopped bleeding before O'Keefe was exposed to the snow, and the absence of O'Keefe's shoe, which he testified was already missing when EMS arrived — they would have removed both shoes if either had been present.
  • On cross-examination, Alan Jackson confronted Flematti with dashcam video showing Flematti could not pinpoint when or where the alleged 'I hit him' conversation occurred, and established that the statement appeared nowhere in Flematti's written paramedic report despite being the most significant thing a patient's companion had said at the scene.
  • Jackson further elicited that Flematti's own follow-up questions to Read — about hands, kicks, and punches — never included any question about a car, and that no hospital medical record documented Flematti's claimed communication to staff about a possible vehicle strike.

Trial Record (5)

Trial 1 First Criminal Trial Apr 29, 2024 – Jul 1, 2024 5 proceedings

Day 2

Direct Anthony Flematti Adam Lally 3 highlights 76 lines spoken
Summary

Paramedic Anthony Flematti described severe weather, the ambulance response to 34 Fairview Road, and EMS-report timestamps for the call.

Highlights (3)
Quote

“Visibility was extremely poor, high winds. Probably 20-30 mile an hour winds. The temperature was probably in the 20s. It was still actively snowing at the time.”

Flematti gave a concise firsthand description of the weather and visibility before the ambulance response.

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Quote

“So we have our dispatch time, 6:06; en route time, 6:07; on scene, 6:14; at patient, 6:15; and we transported from the scene at 6:27 and arrived at destination at the hospital, 6:45.”

Flematti read the response timeline recorded in the EMS report.

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Day 3

Direct Anthony Flematti Adam Lally 6 highlights 130 lines spoken
Summary

Paramedic Anthony Flematti described the emergency response, resuscitation, medical observations, and a statement he attributed to Ms. Read at the scene.

Highlights (6)
Quote

“So his limbs were able to be moved, jaw was able to be moved. The posterior area of his body was red. So not indicative of the lividity that we're looking for. So we termed it to be a viable arrest and continued to work.”

Explains why responders continued resuscitation efforts.

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Quote

“So the only response that I was personally given was just, I hit him. I hit him. Oh, my God, I hit him.”

Flematti attributed this reported statement to Ms. Read during his initial effort to obtain information at the scene.

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Quote

“So we had active bleeding from other areas in the body. So the fact that it had already stopped and clotted, I would assume that would have been several hours before the incident that led him to be there. But I would guess earlier in the evening.”

Flematti gave a qualified estimate about the timing of dried blood on O'Keefe's right arm.

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Key Moment

Flematti identified John O'Keefe from a license in his wallet and described finding him about 10 feet from the roadway, on his back to the best of his recollection.

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Show 2 more
Key Moment

Flematti described CPR, airway management, warming, intraosseous access, epinephrine, intubation, and suctioning during treatment and transport to Good Samaritan Medical Center.

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Cross Anthony Flematti Alan Jackson 4 highlights 215 lines spoken
Summary

Defense counsel used synchronized dash-cam video and Flematti's records to test his recollection of the emergency response and what he reported about a possible vehicle strike.

Highlights (4)
Quote

“I said I did chest compressions at some point. I didn't say I did them continuously throughout the call.”

Flematti distinguished his general participation in CPR from a continuous role shown or inferred from the video.

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Quote

“I recall telling the doctors and nurses that there is a question that the patient was hit by a vehicle or we don't know, is what I directly said to the doctors and nurses.”

Flematti described a hospital handoff detail that defense counsel then contrasted with prior testimony and documentation.

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Key Moment

Flematti said his brief conversation with Ms. Read was not productive and that he returned to patient-care responsibilities while another firefighter sought information.

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Key Moment

Flematti testified that he recalled telling hospital staff there was a question whether the patient had been hit by a vehicle, but agreed that this information was not in his report and had not been disclosed to police, the grand jury, or on direct examination.

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Redirect Anthony Flematti Adam Lally 1 highlights 19 lines spoken
Summary

Flematti addressed CPR practices, the limits of his knowledge about videos used in cross-examination, and why responders raised a possible vehicle strike with hospital staff.

Highlights (1)
Quote

“So it was due to the proximity of the patient to the roadway and the vagueness of the statement.”

Flematti explained the basis for his recollection that responders raised a possible vehicle strike with hospital staff.

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Recross Anthony Flematti Alan Jackson 2 highlights 14 lines spoken
Summary

Flematti said he could not identify CPR personnel in the video and clarified that he gave hospital staff two possible explanations for Mr. O'Keefe's condition.

Highlights (2)
Quote

“I did. I can't tell you for certain which personnel. We all have yellow coats. So I can't tell you if somebody swapped. I don't know.”

Flematti explained why he could not use the video to identify whether CPR personnel changed.

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Quote

“So I left it open-ended to the staff of the hospital that these are both possibilities of what happened to the patient.”

Flematti distinguished his hospital communication from the defense characterization that he had concluded a vehicle struck Mr. O'Keefe.

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