Elizabeth Laposata

Dr. Elizabeth Laposata served as the defense's forensic pathology expert in Trial 2, offering opinions that O'Keefe's fatal head injuries resulted from a backward fall onto a ridged surface rather than a vehicle strike, and that wounds on his arm were consistent with animal bites. A former Chief Medical Examiner of Rhode Island (1993–2005) board-certified in anatomic and forensic pathology, she testified across Days 29 and 30, covering injury mechanism analysis, coup contrecoup brain trauma, and differential diagnosis methodology. Her testimony was subject to extensive voir dire before she was permitted to testify, and she faced sustained cross-examination from prosecutor Hank Brennan challenging her qualifications, methodology, and independence.