Jason Becker

“She was kind of pretty distraught. She was crying. She kind of told us the statements she may have made, she didn't mean it because of the current events that she had just gone through.”

The witness described Read's condition when he first approached the vehicle for the Section 12 call.

The witness described Read as crying and distraught when he first spoke with her outside the SUV, then explained the Section 12 assessment and transport process.

“So when I ask a patient if any drugs or alcohol, I'm talking about at that point in time, but an hour before, two hours before, not days before or weeks before.”

Becker defined the time scope of the medical-history question at issue on cross-examination.

“That wasn't my position to ask more details about that.”

Becker identified the limit of his knowledge about the earlier interaction Read described.

“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.