Commonwealth v. Read — Trial ArchiveGary Faller
Dr. Gary Faller, a board-certified pathologist and chief pathologist at Good Samaritan Medical Center, testified in both trials about the hospital's blood alcohol testing procedures and Karen Read's serum blood alcohol result of 93 mg/dL drawn on January 29, 2022. His testimony established the clinical result as a reliable product of accredited laboratory protocols while also acknowledging the fundamental distinction between hospital serum testing and the forensic whole-blood analysis used in legal proceedings. He testified across four proceedings in Trial 1 and three in Trial 2, covering the same core evidence each time.
Trial 1 vs Trial 2
Trial 2 featured a more developed redirect examination in which ADA Lally elicited additional technical detail not covered in Trial 1 — including serum-to-whole-blood conversion factors, a European study of MS patients showing lactic acid levels too low to produce false positives, and direct comparison of Good Samaritan's CAP proficiency testing results against forensic laboratory benchmarks. The cross-examination in Trial 2 also placed greater emphasis on the hospital's lack of forensic accreditation (ANAB) as distinct from its clinical CAP accreditation, sharpening the defense's argument that the result cannot be treated as equivalent to a forensic blood alcohol measurement.