Commonwealth v. Read — Trial ArchiveJessica Hyde
Jessica Hyde is a digital forensics expert employed by Magnet Forensics, the company behind the AXIOM forensic analysis tool. She was retained by the prosecution to analyze Jennifer McCabe's iPhone and offer expert opinions on the timing and deletion status of the disputed Google search for 'how long to die in cold.' Her testimony spans six proceedings across both trials, consistently arguing that the 2:27 a.m. timestamp reflects browser tab movement rather than the time of the search itself, and that her analysis places the search at 6:24 a.m. She also examined John O'Keefe's phone for health and activity data relevant to the timeline of his death.
Trial 1 vs Trial 2
The Trial 2 cross-examination was substantially more detailed and aggressive than Trial 1's. Alessi introduced Hyde's prior inconsistent statements from her May 2023 report and June 2024 testimony, documented a factual error in her December 2024 report regarding O'Keefe's phone activity, and pressed her on Cellebrite's unexplained removal of the 2:27 timestamp — an issue not raised in Trial 1. The Trial 2 examination also extended to Faraday bag protocols and the chain of custody for O'Keefe's phone, topics absent from her first appearance. Redirect and recross were added in Trial 2, giving both sides additional opportunities to rehabilitate and re-challenge her on the Cellebrite methodology question.