Robert Alessi

Summary

Pre-testimony motions addressing prosecution's consolidated phone/text PowerPoint exhibits, Jennifer McCabe health watch data as potential rebuttal, and scheduling of ARCCA expert voir dire for Monday.

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Trooper Nicholas Guarino testifies about his digital forensics background and the process of extracting data from phones belonging to John O'Keefe, Karen Read, Kerry Roberts, and Jennifer McCabe.

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Ian Whiffin testified about disputed Safari timestamps and gave opinions from phone data concerning John O'Keefe's phone location and activity overnight.

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Whiffin's cross-examination focused on omissions and limits in his phone-data timeline, including message identification, location accuracy, and pocket-state records.

Highlights (3)

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Dr. Wolfe addressed communications production, his contacts with defense counsel, and questions about potential retention and billing.

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Dr. Wolfe addressed deleted texts, Signal contacts, and a pre-testimony email outline sent to Mr. Jackson; the email was marked as an exhibit.

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Dr. Wolfe described ARCCA's Department of Justice contract, denied a 2024 defense retainer for the earlier work, and outlined the timeline for ARCCA's new 2025 report.

Highlights (2)

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Wolfe addressed the timing of ARCCA’s new work, information he received about prior testimony, and unproduced materials from prior testing.

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Counsel disputed whether questioning implied the defense was paying a salaried witness for time, citing May 1 billing and an invoice; the judge overruled the objection.

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The court discussed finishing Dr. Rentschler's examination that day, limited Brennan to five minutes, and arranged to bring Rentschler in rather than have the witness return Thursday.

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The judge scheduled argument for the next day after the jury breaks around 4:00 or 3:45, limiting each side to ten to fifteen minutes.

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Whiffin's cross-examination examined limits in his phone-location, battery-temperature, extraction-integrity, and disputed-timestamp opinions.

Highlights (5)

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Whiffin defended his independent phone-data analysis, qualified the limits of location records, and addressed extraction integrity and the disputed Safari-search timestamp.

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Whiffin used a chart and live Safari demonstration to explain his location-data and timestamp interpretations.

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Whiffin agreed that the live demonstration was altered that day after Cellebrite removed the disputed timestamp from its programs.

Highlights (1)

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The judge addressed reported facial reactions and eye-rolling toward the jury, instructing counsel to stop and turn the chair toward the front.

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Counsel agreed to stipulate to times if read correctly from a report, while noting that the underlying information was already in evidence in another form.

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McCabe was questioned about phone records, missed calls to O'Keefe, the timing of a Google search, and her actions during the emergency response.

Highlights (1)

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Counsel checked whether a Cellebrite-related display was in evidence before using it to question the witness, and later confirmed that it was not.

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Defense attorney Alessi cross-examines meteorologist Gilman to establish that snow accumulation during the early morning hours of January 29, 2022 was minimal — less than one inch by 3 a.m. — and that visibility and windchill conditions were significant but distinct from the later storm intensity.

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The judge excluded a Maryland decision offered for use against Jessica Hyde but allowed cross-examination about her methodology.

Highlights (2)

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Jessica Hyde testified that a Safari tab timestamp did not mark when the "hos long to die in cold" search was made, placing it at about 6:24 a.m.; she also opined that neither the search nor older call-log entries were user-deleted.

Highlights (1)

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Defense challenged Ms. Hyde's reports on phone activity, the 2:27:40 timestamp, and evidence handling; she acknowledged limits in artifacts she had not reviewed and agreed that the phone was not isolated according to the preservation practice she described.

Highlights (4)

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Hyde defended the independence and methodology of her phone analysis, explained limits on timestamp and health-step data, and said her report could not establish all overnight phone movement.

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Hyde answered further questions about timestamp tools, phone isolation, and call-log data, saying Mr. O'Keefe's phone appeared not to have been in a Faraday bag from 6:00 a.m. to noon.

Highlights (1)

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The court marked Clip 15 as Exhibit 83 and addressed witness scheduling, directing that an expert review the newly received ARCCA report before any remedy is considered.

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Counsel disputed displaying a chart containing a digital-forensics opinion before its foundation was established, and the court limited its use until the witness offered her opinion.

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Counsel argued that the witness's timestamp opinion lacked a proper expert foundation, while the Commonwealth argued that her training, experience, and explained process supported the opinion.

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Counsel renewed the objection that the witness had not established support for her timestamp methodology, and the court allowed the evidence.

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The court clarified its expert-evidence ruling, finding the witness qualified and the Commonwealth's showing sufficient, while counsel said the defense had recently received the demonstrative material.

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Defense counsel requested a curative instruction after reviewing a courtroom comment and expression, arguing they could have suggested to jurors that his objections were improper.

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The parties disputed whether cross-examination excerpts fairly presented the witness's testimony, and the court permitted the questioning while allowing explanation on redirect.

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Counsel discussed an interview report, whether it reflected an invocation, and a Rule 14 issue; the judge said counsel would not get into the interview.

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Counsel discussed striking part of an answer, directing the witness to describe personal actions more clearly, and later showing sustained findings and text messages.

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Counsel discussed storing an item in plasticine and replacing or remarking a shoe evidence bag to clarify the record while preserving the old bag.

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Bukhenik was questioned about documentation and handling of recovered fragments, later lab processing, and text messages admitted with a limiting instruction.

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Counsel disputed authentication and use of text messages during cross-examination; the court admitted the material with authentication and non-hearsay limiting instructions tied to the officer's knowledge.

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Defense attorney Alessi challenges forensic scientist Hartnett's vehicle examination, establishing that no damage, glass, or hair evidence was scientifically linked to a pedestrian strike and questioning evidence handling of solo cup blood samples.

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Robert Alessi continues cross-examination of forensic scientist Maureen Hartnett, focusing on the absence of biological testing on tail light fragments and on the co-mingling of clothing evidence and Hartnett's limited knowledge of its handling before laboratory receipt.

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Hank Brennan redirects forensic scientist Maureen Hartnett on the scope of her vehicle examination, the vehicle's condition when she saw it, evidence preservation, and hypotheticals about evidence placement, some of which were sustained.

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Robert Alessi briefly recrosses Maureen Hartnett on one point about the gray hoodie's right sleeve damage, establishing she performed no analysis of what caused the hole.

Highlights (1)

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Defense attorney Alessi cross-examines Dr. Scordi-Bello on her autopsy methodology, challenging whether she adequately considered alternative explanations for John O'Keefe's injuries and manner of death.

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Robert Alessi continues cross-examining Dr. Scordi-Bello, challenging the hypothermia diagnosis by questioning pancreatic and gastric hemorrhage findings and establishing that facial injuries could not result from a backward fall.

Highlights (1)

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ADA Brennan rehabilitates Dr. Scordi-Bello on redirect by completing her truncated grand jury testimony about hypothermia findings and establishing the investigative information available to her before filing the death certificate.

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Robert Alessi's brief recross establishes that omeprazole appeared on John O'Keefe's medication list and that alcohol-related ulceration was possible; Scordi-Bello still could not determine manner of death despite having Karen Read's statements.

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Defense argues Aperture's amended clock-drift report is a Rule 14 discovery violation; prosecution counters it responds to defense expert DiSogra's report and changes no underlying data.

Highlights (3)

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Defense argues Shanon Burgess's May 8th clock drift report is a Rule 14 violation requiring four days to address; Commonwealth contends nothing has changed in their timeline.

Highlights (3)

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Digital forensics expert Shanon Burgess testifies about recovering previously unacquired data from the Lexus infotainment SD card, identifying infotainment power on/off timestamps, and calculating clock variance between the Lexus and John O'Keefe's iPhone.

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Defense attorney Alessi challenged Burgess's degree representations, capacity-conversion errors affecting three chips in his protocol, and the timing and basis of his mid-trial supplemental report.

Highlights (2)

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Defense attorney Alessi continues cross-examining digital forensics expert Shanon Burgess, challenging his timeline accuracy, methodology choices, and the significance of TechStream trigger events.

Highlights (3)

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Prosecution rehabilitates Burgess on redirect, addressing credential criticism and defending his clock synchronization methodology over defense expert Dogra's approach.

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Robert Alessi confronts Shanon Burgess with a federal court filing from a Texas case containing an incorrect CV line without the 'currently pursuing' qualifier; Burgess later said he neither submitted nor saw the document before it was filed.

Highlights (2)

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Defense attorney Alessi cross-examines prosecution neurosurgeon Dr. Wolf, establishing that Wolf considered direct local force to the right upper-eyelid laceration possible and agreed the injury was unrelated to the basilar skull fracture mechanism Wolf described on direct.

Highlights (1)

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Defense attorney Alessi questions prosecution expert Judson Welcher about last-minute changes to his PowerPoint presentation and their impact on the collision timeline.

Highlights (1)

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Prosecution expert Judson Welcher presents accident reconstruction and biomechanical analysis, including vehicle data, photogrammetric analysis of Ring doorbell video, arm-laceration consistency with Lexus tail-light geometry, and hard-surface fall fracture tolerance; his ultimate opinion that Read's Lexus struck O'Keefe was stricken.

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Defense objects to prosecution expert Dr. Welcher offering an opinion on whether a collision occurred, arguing it invades the province of the jury. The court reserves ruling until the next morning.

Highlights (2)

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Judge Cannone rules on the scope of Dr. Welcher's expert testimony, allowing collision and injury consistency opinions but barring the conclusion that Read's Lexus struck O'Keefe. Housekeeping on exhibit slides follows before the jury enters.

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Defense attorney Robert Alessi cross-examines prosecution expert Dr. Judson Welcher, challenging his methodology, potential confirmation bias, the absence of force calculations for the arm injuries, and the financial relationship between his firm Aperture and the Commonwealth.

Highlights (1)

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On recross, defense attorney Alessi confirms that Welcher considered selected highlighted portions of Dr. Scordi-Bello's final diagnosis in the autopsy report; Welcher maintains that cause and manner of death were separate from those portions.

Highlights (1)

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Judge Cannone rules against the defense's request to cross-examine Dr. Welcher about Trooper Paul's CARS analysis and Dr. Scordi-Bello's autopsy conclusions.

Highlights (2)

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Defense attorney Alessi continues cross-examination of prosecution expert Welcher, challenging his photogrammetry methodology, Ring camera analysis, vehicle suspension measurements, and the significance of TechStream vehicle data.

Highlights (1)

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Defense attorney Alessi conducts a brief recross challenging Welcher's confirmation-bias defense by establishing that Welcher could not identify a slide or document presented to the jury expressly showing the alternative hypothesis of no contact between the Lexus and O'Keefe.

Highlights (2)

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Defense expert Dr. Marie Russell testifies that wounds on John O'Keefe's right arm were caused by dog bites and claw marks and were inconsistent with injuries she had seen in motor-vehicle accident victims, based on wound pattern recognition and differential diagnosis.

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Prosecutor Hank Brennan continues cross-examining defense expert Dr. Marie Russell, challenging her dog bite methodology, shifting opinions across hearings, and her basis for excluding a vehicle collision as the cause of O'Keefe's arm injuries.

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Defense moves for mistrial with prejudice after prosecution raises absence of dog DNA during cross-examination of Dr. Russell. Judge Cannone denies the motion.

Highlights (2)

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Prosecutor Brennan attempted to introduce Dr. John Walsh's medical examiner report through defense expert Russell after she disagreed with Walsh's assessment, but Judge Cannone excluded it.

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Brennan concluded cross-examination of Dr. Russell by examining her evidence review, including a telematics report she said postdated her original opinion and that she did not understand, while questioning DNA testing and tail light fragments.

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Defense attorney Alessi rehabilitated Dr. Russell's pattern recognition methodology using peer-reviewed studies and challenged the prosecution's tail light fragment theory on redirect.

Highlights (1)

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On recross, ADA Brennan challenged Dr. Russell's dog-bite opinion with a fatal-dog-bite study, eliciting her agreement that O'Keefe's arm lacks its three described features—punctures, lacerations, and avulsions—while Russell distinguished the study's fatal bites from the nonfatal bites she believed were at issue.

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Defense attorney Alessi conducted brief re-redirect of Dr. Russell, clarifying the purpose of the peer-reviewed articles and reading a key passage from Dr. Walsh's report stating O'Keefe's injuries were 'non-specific.'

Highlights (1)

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Defense moves for mistrial with prejudice after prosecutor Brennan showed Dr. Wolfe holes in the back of O'Keefe's hoodie, implying they resulted from the January 29 incident, when the holes were actually made by criminalist Hartnett during lab sampling. Judge denies mistrial but gives curative instruction.

Highlights (2)

Summary

Pre-closing charge conference covering the defense motion for required finding of not guilty, jury instruction disputes, Bowden/third-party culprit arguments, verdict form proposals, and a curative instruction request regarding Exhibit 88 (the hoodie).