Commonwealth v. Read — Trial ArchiveBrian Higgins
Testimony Impact
Brian Higgins is a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent who was among the group that moved from the Waterfall Bar to 34 Fairview Road in the early hours of January 29, 2022. He had an ongoing flirtatious text relationship with Karen Read and was personally connected to Canton law enforcement through his professional relationship with Police Chief Berkowitz. His testimony covered his movements that night, his later presence at Canton PD, a 2:22 a.m. phone call with Brian Albert, and his disposal of his personal cell phone after a preservation order. Higgins denied factory-resetting the phone, said he cut or broke the SIM card, and testified that he discarded the SIM and phone together in one trash bag and one dumpster on a military base after extracting the Read and O'Keefe text threads.
Challenges & Responses
What attorneys challenged during examination and how the witness responded.
The defense challenged Higgins on multiple fronts: his personal and professional ties to Canton law enforcement, differences between his trial testimony and prior statements about his movements and morning calls, his selective extraction of the Read and O'Keefe text threads, and the timing of his phone disposal relative to a preservation order. Higgins denied factory-resetting the phone, said he cut or broke the SIM card, and testified that the SIM and phone went together into one trash bag and one military-base dumpster. Yannetti also challenged Higgins's stated reasons for changing his number and disposing of the device.
Notable Quotes From The Record
“To be honest with you, I — I guess you could view it as a flirty text.”
Higgins acknowledges sending a flirtatious text to Read while at the Waterfall, establishing the nature of their communications.
“It didn't make sense to me. I couldn't do the math in my head because I know John O'Keefe and the defendant — they never showed up. It didn't make sense.”
Higgins states O'Keefe and Read never arrived at 34 Fairview Road while he was there, central to the disputed facts of the case.
“I was but things have deteriorated.”
Higgins read a text attributed to Read about her relationship with O'Keefe, used by the prosecution to support its motive theory through claimed relationship dissatisfaction.
“I'm pretty sure we would have hooked up.”
Higgins read a text attributed to Read stating that she was pretty sure she and Higgins would have hooked up; the prosecution offered the message as part of its motive theory.
“John died.”
Higgins read a displayed message attributed to Read stating 'John died.'; the testimony identifies Read as the message author and Higgins as its courtroom reader.
“A human being can't have a conversation in 22 seconds.”
Phone records showed a 22-second call between Higgins and Brian Albert at 2:22 a.m.; Higgins said he did not recall the calls, acknowledged the record, denied a conversation, and suggested a possible inadvertent callback.
“No. I threw the phone away.”
Higgins rejected Jackson's characterization that he destroyed the phone and said that he threw it away; Jackson's next question characterized disposal as destruction.
“Correct.”
Higgins answered 'Correct' to Yannetti's question that disposing of the phone and SIM card made the prior text-message content inaccessible; the answer did not itself resolve preservation status or intent.
“I was a little embarrassed — wasn't really proud of it — kind of maybe didn't show me in a good light, with respect to the fact that I was John's friend.”
Explains why Higgins never told anyone about the text messages with Read, framing it as personal embarrassment rather than concealment.
“No, I did not.”
Higgins denied speaking with Brian Albert at 2:22 a.m. on January 29 and said he did not recall making or receiving a call from him around that time. The call log was raised during cross-examination but did not by itself establish that they spoke.
“In July of 2022, I had a target of an investigation I was working who alleged that he — he called me on my personal cell phone. And when I questioned him as to how he obtained my personal telephone number, he told me that his girlfriend had obtained it off of open-source internet.”
Prosecution's alternative explanation for phone destruction — security compromise from undercover work, not evidence destruction.
“If I had seen John O'Keefe on the side of the road, I would have done something to make a difference.”
Emotional closing statement reinforcing that Higgins did not see O'Keefe when leaving Fairview Road, and would have helped if he had.
“Well, I told her about the kiss.”
Higgins confirms telling his supervisor about the kiss. He did not specifically recall telling her about the texting and said only that it was possible; Yannetti used the exchange to question Higgins's privacy explanation.
“I got the preservation order on the 30th. That's correct.”
Higgins confirms that he received the preservation order on September 30. Separate redirect testimony placed disposal of the old phone later.
Key Moments
- Higgins testified that O'Keefe and Read never arrived at 34 Fairview Road while he was present, and that when he drove away he saw nothing on the roadside — a claim that became central to the dispute over when O'Keefe's body came to rest on the lawn.
- On cross-examination, Jackson confronted Higgins with a 2:22 a.m. call log entry showing Higgins had called Brian Albert hours before O'Keefe's body was discovered, and Higgins's dismissal of the 22-second call as too short for a real conversation drew sustained scrutiny.
- Jackson challenged Higgins about phone disposal: Higgins testified he threw the phone away, acknowledged that he was served an order on September 30, and said it was possible he removed the SIM card. The court sustained questions about whether he destroyed the phone in October; Higgins denied Jackson's allegation that the phone and SIM card went into separate dumpsters.
- On Day 18, Yannetti questioned Higgins about disposing of his phone after a preservation order. Higgins denied performing a factory reset, said he cut or broke the SIM card, and testified that he put the SIM and phone together in one trash bag and discarded both in one dumpster while crossing a military base. Yannetti used the exchange and Higgins's selective text extraction to advance a broader evidence-destruction challenge.
- Higgins acknowledged on redirect that he had relayed information about Chief Berkowitz's discovery of a taillight piece at 34 Fairview Road to Brian Albert, a transmission he confirmed without hesitation: 'Yes, 100%. I'm not hiding that fact.'