Commonwealth v. Read — Trial ArchiveJason Becker
Testimony Impact
Jason Becker is a Canton Fire Department firefighter paramedic who was dispatched to a Section 12 psychiatric evaluation call for Karen Read on the morning of January 29, 2022, shortly after O'Keefe was found unresponsive outside 34 Fairview Road. During transport to the hospital, Read made several statements to Becker that became central to the prosecution's case, including asking whether O'Keefe could be dead and questioning whether she could have hit him. Becker testified in both trials, recounting Read's emotional state and her mention of a prior argument with O'Keefe. He testified that Read denied drugs or alcohol within his immediate assessment window; on cross-examination, after his recollection was refreshed with a police report, he agreed that she had reported drinking the prior night.
Challenges & Responses
What attorneys challenged during examination and how the witness responded.
On cross-examination, Yannetti used Trooper Proctor's February 14, 2022 report to refresh Becker's recollection concerning whether Read had reported drinking the prior night. Becker explained that his standard intake question about drugs and alcohol concerned the preceding hour or two, not prior days; after the report was shown, he agreed that Read had reported prior-night drinking. He also acknowledged that his memory would have been sharper closer to the event.
Trial 1 vs Trial 2
Trial 2 featured a more extensive cross-examination by Alan Jackson than Trial 1's shorter cross-examination. Jackson explored Read's demeanor and asked Becker to connect her discussion of her last words to O'Keefe with a proposition about missed calls and voicemails; Becker agreed, but also said he had not looked through her phone and did not know whom she had called. On redirect, Becker said he did not recall Read using the word 'voicemail.' Trial 2 also included recross: after Becker agreed with Jackson's question linking the argument to Read's last words, the court sustained an objection and instructed jurors to disregard that last statement.
Notable Quotes From The Record
“She was in shock, she was crying. She kind of told us that the statements she may have made — she didn't mean it — because of the current events that she had just gone through.”
Read's first words to Becker — walking back earlier suicidal statements while explaining her emotional state.
“She kept asking if he was dead, or could he be dead.”
Establishes Read's repeated questioning about O'Keefe's condition during transport.
“She had said that they had gotten into an argument, that she was sad because that was the last thing she had said to him was the argument, but she didn't go into detail on what the argument was about or what was said.”
Records Becker's account that Read reported an argument with O'Keefe and did not provide details about it.
“I asked if she had taken any drugs or alcohol, and she had denied it. At that point she said she had not.”
Read denied alcohol consumption in response to Becker's immediate assessment question, relevant to his contemporaneous observations.
“She was asking if he was dead — 'could he be dead, could he be dead' — and she said 'could I have hit him.'”
Records Becker's account that Read asked whether O'Keefe could be dead and said 'could I have hit him.'
“So when I ask a patient about any drugs or alcohol, I'm talking about at that point in time — an hour before, two hours before — not days before, weeks before.”
Clarifies the limited scope of the drug/alcohol question — Becker wasn't asking about the entire night, just the immediate timeframe.
“It was a call for a section 12 psych eval.”
Establishes the nature of the dispatch — Read was being evaluated as a potential danger to herself or others.
“In this specific situation, we didn't know the circumstances. We just knew that Miss Read had found her husband, whom she was calling dead on the side of the road. So it was a traumatic call.”
Shows Becker described his role as non-investigative and focused on patient safety.
“Initially she was agitated because she didn't feel like she needed to go to the hospital. She said the statement she made, she didn't mean, she just kind of said in jest because of the events that she went through. But then there'd be periods where she'd be calm and then it would fluctuate. She would have pressured speech, repetitive, but all in all she was cooperative.”
Read's demeanor description and her attempt to walk back whatever statement triggered the Section 12 call.
“One of the reasons why she was saying that stuff is because the last thing—the last conversation she had with her husband at the time was an argument. I didn't feel like it was my role to really find out the details on what was said.”
Establishes Read disclosed an argument with John O'Keefe as her last interaction, without providing specifics.
“Her demeanor was consistent with having gone through a significant trauma for the situation.”
Becker described Read's demeanor as consistent with having gone through significant trauma.
“She didn't give any details.”
Establishes that Read never specified the nature or content of the argument, undermining any prosecution inference about an in-person confrontation.
“I did.”
Becker agreed with Jackson's compound proposition connecting Read's upset about her 'last words' to angry voicemails on missed calls; the answer is context-dependent.
“Uh, so she — she was also um — she was upset also because she said they had, you know, the last time they had talked she had gotten into an argument. So she was upset that that was like her last words to him.”
The full grand jury statement reflects Becker's account that Read described an argument when they last talked. Together with his testimony that he did not recall a voicemail or voice-message reference, it supported Brennan's rebuttal without establishing whether the exchange was in person.
“I did not.”
Becker's unequivocal denial that Read ever mentioned voicemails or voice messages, repeated multiple times during the redirect.
“I didn't feel it was — you know, at the time we went about the call — we didn't, you know, think we would be witnesses in a murder trial. Um, you know, we were there to support Karen and ultimately get to the hospital safely.”
Explains why Becker didn't probe further about the argument — contextualizes the limited detail as appropriate paramedic behavior, not an investigative gap.
“She tried to.”
Becker confirmed only that Read tried to show him her phone; he said he did not look through it or know whom she called.
Key Moments
- Becker testified that during transport, Read repeatedly asked whether O'Keefe could be dead and said 'could I have hit him.' The prosecution used that testimony to argue that Read's words suggested awareness that her vehicle may have struck O'Keefe.
- Becker recalled that Read told him their last interaction had been an argument, and that she was distressed because that argument was the last thing she had said to him — establishing both the existence of a conflict and Read's emotional awareness of it.
- On direct examination, Becker stated that Read denied drug or alcohol use when he asked. On cross-examination, he explained that his standard intake question concerned the immediate timeframe, and, after his recollection was refreshed with a prior police report, agreed that Read had reported drinking the night before.
- In Trial 2 cross-examination, Becker said Read tried to show him her phone while discussing her 'last words' to O'Keefe. In response to Jackson's proposition that the phone showed missed calls and voicemails, Becker said he put those matters together; Becker later clarified that he did not look through the phone and did not know whom she had called.
- Becker identified Kerry Roberts as the other woman present in the black SUV, placing both women in the vehicle during the psychiatric response and establishing the scene at the time of transport.