Commonwealth v. Read — Trial ArchiveRobert Gilman
Testimony Impact
Robert Gilman, a professional meteorologist and founder of Precision Weather Forecasting Inc., was called by the prosecution to establish the weather conditions at 34 Fairview Road on the night O'Keefe died. Drawing on data from three nearby stations — Blue Hill Observatory, Logan Airport, and Norwood Airport — Gilman testified that while the region was in the opening phase of a historic blizzard that would ultimately deposit 23.8 inches of snow, only trace accumulation had fallen by midnight, the ground was frozen solid, temperatures were dropping through the low 30s, and the vast majority of snowfall came after 6 a.m.
Challenges & Responses
What attorneys challenged during examination and how the witness responded.
Gilman's credentials and data sources were not directly challenged; Alessi's cross focused instead on eliciting favorable concessions from Gilman's own data — particularly on accumulation amounts and visibility — rather than attacking his methodology or qualifications. Gilman also acknowledged that road pre-treatment by the town could have reduced actual accumulation below the chart numbers.
Notable Quotes From The Record
“This was the biggest January storm in history uh with 27 inches of snowfall and it snowed heavily for several hours. Uh visibility under a quarter of a mile and the temperature was dropping during that time and the winds were gusting frequently to 40 and 50 miles an hour in this area.”
Gilman's historical-storm overview, describing periods of heavy snow, reduced visibility, dropping temperature, and strong gusts; it does not establish conditions at a particular incident hour.
“Very little — enough to track a cat — 2/10 of an inch.”
Establishes that only trace snow had fallen by the end of January 28th, relevant to what ground conditions were like in the early morning hours.
“So based on this, it was pretty steady through around 2 in the morning. And then because of the nature of this type of storm — it's deepening rapidly, it's low pressure offshore — so the wind tends to back from the northeast to the north-northeast to the north.”
Explains the temperature drop mechanism during the critical early morning timeframe of the incident.
“the ground was frozen, the soil was frozen, and the surface of the ground was frozen. And it would have made the ground impenetrable — that hard”
Establishes the hardness of the ground surface at the time of the incident, relevant to injury causation.
“Enough to track a cat.”
Gilman's memorable characterization of the minimal snow on the ground around midnight — defense uses this to minimize storm conditions during the relevant timeframe.
“Oh, a lot of factors would come into play. Most importantly, since this was a forecasted storm event, the town may have pre-treated the road. That lowers the freezing point of the precipitation.”
Gilman concedes that actual road conditions could have had even less snow than the chart shows.
“Between 1:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. — so we have 3/10 of an inch up to 2 a.m., and another 4/10 of an inch — or a total of 0.7. So between 1 and 3:00 a.m. there's only an accumulation of 0.7.”
Confirms minimal accumulation during the timeframe most relevant to the case events.
“Visibility reported at 1:00 a.m. was 1.25 miles in light snow.”
Establishes the reported visibility during the critical early morning hours. When asked about a person 30 feet from an object, Gilman agreed it could be seen only with all other things being equal, and he said he would not call visibility below 1.5 miles good.
“So it may have felt like zero to even 10 below zero at the lowest temperature and the highest wind gusts.”
Reports Gilman's uncalculated, experience-based estimate of how it may have felt at the lowest temperature and highest wind gusts; it was not a calculated estimate tied to 23 mph average winds.
“During that time frame, about 3/10 of an inch.”
Establishes minimal snow accumulation during the critical midnight-to-1 a.m. period.
“I have this chart — I showed the graph, the map. It just showed a trace of zero there, that was less than an inch on the ground.”
Reinforces Gilman's testimony that the chart showed a trace, or less than one inch, of snow on the ground.
“A car in front of you, a building in front of you, a person — you know, anything other than weather.”
Qualifies his earlier visibility testimony — the 30-foot figure assumed no physical obstructions.
“And so research was done, and the result of that was a windchill temperature — the way it would feel to the human body based on the wind on a certain temperature.”
Defines windchill as how air temperature feels to the human body; this redirect does not calculate a case-specific windchill.
Key Moments
- Gilman's most memorable characterization — that snow on the ground around midnight was 'enough to track a cat,' roughly 0.2 inches — became a pivot point for both sides, with the prosecution using it to establish frozen ground conditions and the defense using the same phrase to minimize storm severity during the relevant timeframe.
- On direct examination, Gilman established that the ground was frozen solid going into the storm due to a sustained cold period in the preceding days, describing the surface as 'impenetrable — that hard,' a finding directly relevant to the question of what injuries a person could sustain from falling or being struck on that ground.
- Gilman testified that temperatures were dropping steadily through the early morning hours — from 31°F to 24°F between 1:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. — and that windchill may have felt as cold as zero to ten below zero, establishing the extreme exposure conditions O'Keefe would have faced if left outside.
- During cross-examination by defense attorney Alessi, Gilman confirmed that visibility at 1 a.m. was 1.25 miles in light snow and that total accumulation between midnight and 3 a.m. was under one inch, with the defense using these concessions to argue conditions were less severe than the prosecution's framing implied.
- On redirect, the prosecution pinned down that accumulation during the specific midnight-to-1 a.m. window — the period most directly at issue — was approximately 3/10 of an inch, reinforcing that virtually no new snow had fallen at the time O'Keefe would have been outside.