Commonwealth v. Read — Trial Archive
Person Katie McLaughlin Trial 1Trial 2Canton firefighter-paramedic who responded to John O’Keefe’s medical emergency and testified about words she attributed to Karen Read. ← All People
🗣️ Witness · Canton Fire

Katie McLaughlin

Courtroom still of Katie McLaughlin.

Canton firefighter-paramedic who responded to John O’Keefe’s medical emergency and testified about words she attributed to Karen Read.

Trial 1Trial 2
804 lines 13 proceedings 2 trials

About

Katie McLaughlin helped bring a stretcher to John O’Keefe at 34 Fairview Road and gathered medical information from Karen Read. She testified that, after she asked whether significant trauma had occurred, Read repeatedly said, “I hit him.” McLaughlin said she relayed the statement to other responders, observed O’Keefe’s facial injuries in the ambulance, and drove it to the hospital in snowy conditions. She said her role was medical care, not investigating the statement, and that Read did not specify what she had hit him with. Defense counsel compared her testimony with the account she gave Trooper Michael Proctor on January 30, which described Read turning toward a friend when she spoke rather than responding to McLaughlin’s question. McLaughlin initially disputed that the accounts differed but later agreed her story had evolved. She acknowledged making no contemporaneous note or report of Read’s words. At the retrial, she maintained that she heard “I hit him,” not the question forms counsel proposed. When counsel used scene video to challenge her description of Read as hysterical, McLaughlin said Read was not fully visible and remained extremely upset. Counsel also questioned McLaughlin’s relationship with Caitlin Albert. McLaughlin said they had known each other since high school and shared mutual friends. In an examination outside the jury’s presence, she called Albert a close friend but later said they were not close friends and interacted infrequently; on redirect, she described Albert as an acquaintance whose social contact with her was limited to larger groups. McLaughlin testified that she did not know whose house was beside the treatment area when she responded and had not discussed the call or case with Albert.

Trial Record (13)

Trial 1 First Criminal Trial Apr 29, 2024 – Jul 1, 2024 9 proceedings

Day 3

Direct Katie McLaughlin - Direct Examination (Part 1) Katie McLaughlin Adam Lally 2 highlights 70 lines spoken
Summary

Katie McLaughlin described the response to John O'Keefe, an attributed statement by Karen Read at the scene, and her ambulance observations.

Highlights (2)
Key Moment

McLaughlin described the dispatch for an unresponsive man in the snow at 34 Fairview Road and her arrival with a stretcher as other responders were treating the patient.

Open in transcript → Watch this moment ▶
Key Moment

McLaughlin testified that, after she asked Karen Read about significant trauma, Read repeated a statement that McLaughlin understood as "I hit him"; McLaughlin said she then relayed the information and did not continue questioning Read.

Open in transcript → Watch this moment ▶

Day 4

Direct Katie McLaughlin - Direct Examination (Part 2) Katie McLaughlin Adam Lally 3 highlights 14 lines spoken
Summary

Katie McLaughlin described O'Keefe's wet clothing and located him off the road near a fire hydrant at 34 Fairview Road.

Highlights (3)
Key Moment

McLaughlin testified that O'Keefe wore jeans, a dark-colored light zip-up jacket, and one sneaker; she said the clothing was soaked through and she saw no tears or holes.

Open in transcript → Watch this moment ▶
Key Moment

Using Exhibit 18, McLaughlin identified the call address as 34 Fairview Road and said her reference point was that the patient was off the road, to the left of the house near a fire hydrant.

Open in transcript → Watch this moment ▶
Cross Katie McLaughlin - Cross-Examination (Part 1) Katie McLaughlin Alan Jackson 3 highlights 81 lines spoken
Summary

Defense examined McLaughlin's prior report, documentation, and account of the attributed statement.

Highlights (3)
Voir Dire Katie McLaughlin - Voir Dire Katie McLaughlin Alan Jackson 2 highlights 142 lines spoken
Summary

McLaughlin was questioned outside the jury's presence about social-media photographs and her relationship with Caitlin Albert; she initially called Albert a close friend but later said they were not close friends and interacted infrequently.

Highlights (2)
Quote

“No. I'm saying I can't -- these photos are old. I don't know. I don't remember where these were or the circumstances around them. That's what I'm saying.”

McLaughlin clarified that her inability to identify the photographs' settings or dates reflected limited recollection of old photographs.

Open in transcript → Watch this moment ▶
Quote

“I would consider her to be a close friend.”

This answer differed from McLaughlin's earlier description of Caitlin Albert as an acquaintance rather than a close friend.

Open in transcript → Watch this moment ▶
Voir Dire Katie McLaughlin - Voir Dire (Prosecution) Katie McLaughlin Adam Lally 2 highlights 15 lines spoken
Summary

McLaughlin described Caitlin Albert as an acquaintance; the court excluded the photographs but allowed limited relationship questioning.

Highlights (2)
Quote

“I would categorize our relationship as always being just acquaintances. I knew her. We had some mutual friends, but we were never close friends. We don't have a one-on-one relationship.”

McLaughlin defined the relationship at issue in the voir dire as an acquaintance relationship rather than a close friendship.

Open in transcript → Watch this moment ▶
Cross Katie McLaughlin — Cross-Examination (Part 2) Katie McLaughlin Alan Jackson 1 highlights 33 lines spoken
Summary

McLaughlin was questioned about Caitlin Albert, 34 Fairview, and differences between her prior statement and jury testimony.

Highlights (1)
Quote

“I've always testified to -- like I feel as though my testimony has been consistent.”

McLaughlin disputed counsel's characterization that her account had evolved before later agreeing that the two statements were not the same.

Open in transcript → Watch this moment ▶
Redirect Katie McLaughlin - Redirect Katie McLaughlin Adam Lally 1 highlights 35 lines spoken
Summary

McLaughlin described Caitlin Albert as an acquaintance, explained her response duty, and said later knowledge of Albert-family names came from media reports.

Highlights (1)
Quote

“I would describe it as we're not close friends. I would say we're more acquaintances. We have mutual friends. I don't have a one-on-one relationship with her.”

McLaughlin directly characterized the limited nature of her relationship with Caitlin Albert.

Open in transcript → Watch this moment ▶

Trial 2 Retrial Apr 22, 2025 – Jun 18, 2025 4 proceedings

Day 9

Direct Katie McLaughlin - Direct Katie McLaughlin Hank Brennan 4 highlights 129 lines spoken
Summary

Katie McLaughlin, a Canton firefighter-paramedic, testifies about responding to 34 Fairview Road on January 29, 2022, and hearing Karen Read repeatedly state 'I hit him' while gathering medical information at the scene.

Highlights (4)
Quote

“To help the patient, to save someone's life.”

Establishes McLaughlin's focus was medical, not investigative — framing Read's statement as spontaneous rather than elicited by law enforcement.

Open in transcript → Watch this moment ▶
Quote

“I asked if there had been any significant trauma that happened that preceded this. And she answered with a series of statements that she repeated. 'I hit him. I hit him.' There was a woman next to us who told her to calm down. 'Stop talking. Calm down. You're hysterical.' So she repeated, 'I hit him.' And a police officer asked her, said, 'You what?' And she repeated it again. 'I hit him.'”

McLaughlin testified that, in response to her question about significant trauma while gathering medical information, Read repeated ‘I hit him.’ The meaning of those words is for the factfinder to assess.

Open in transcript → Watch this moment ▶
Quote

“I didn't feel comfortable pushing and asking for more. I just didn't think that it was the right time for that. And it was also really not my place at that point. I feel like that was something that the police were — that's more their role.”

Explains why McLaughlin did not follow up on Read's statement, reinforcing the line between medical and police roles.

Open in transcript → Watch this moment ▶
Quote

“We went to high school together. We're in the same grade. We have mutual friends, and growing up we had different friend groups, but those groups would often get together in bigger groups and hang out. I see her in group settings. I socialize with her occasionally. I don't have a personal relationship with her. I wouldn't consider her to be a friend of mine, but I do see her occasionally because of social events. I don't have a one-on-one. I don't have a close personal relationship with her.”

Brennan preemptively addresses the Caitlin Albert connection that the defense used for impeachment in Trial 1.

Open in transcript → Watch this moment ▶
Cross Katie McLaughlin - Cross Katie McLaughlin Alan Jackson 1 highlights 245 lines spoken
Summary

Alan Jackson cross-examines Katie McLaughlin about her relationship with Caitlin Albert, pre-trial conversations with ADA Brennan, Read's demeanor, and the reported 'I hit him' statement.

Highlights (1)
Quote

“She was distraught.”

McLaughlin described Read as 'distraught' during Jackson's video questioning. She later said the video was hard to assess and that Read looked hysterical and was extremely upset, rather than adopting Jackson's interpretation.

Open in transcript → Watch this moment ▶
Redirect Katie McLaughlin - Redirect Katie McLaughlin Hank Brennan 3 highlights 22 lines spoken
Summary

ADA Brennan rehabilitates Katie McLaughlin on redirect by establishing that she fully described her relationship with Caitlin Albert during prior testimony and that she had no reason to document Karen Read's statement given the non-investigative nature of her role.

Highlights (3)
Quote

“I explained the relationship over and over again throughout the testimony.”

Counters Jackson's implication that McLaughlin minimized or concealed her connection to Caitlin Albert

Open in transcript → Watch this moment ▶
Quote

“I just felt bad for her at the time. It was a very disturbing scene and I did not want to push further down that road. It's not my job and I didn't feel comfortable doing it.”

McLaughlin explained that she did not follow up on Read's reported statement because the scene was disturbing, she felt bad for Read, and investigation was not her role.

Open in transcript → Watch this moment ▶
Recross Katie McLaughlin - Recross Katie McLaughlin Alan Jackson 2 highlights 12 lines spoken
Summary

Alan Jackson's brief recross reinforces that the scene was emotionally chaotic and revisits Kevin Albert's role in coordinating McLaughlin's interview with Trooper Proctor.

Highlights (2)

Locations Touched By This Testimony

34 Fairview Road 8 procs Canton Police Department 4 procs Good Samaritan Medical Center 1 proc