Day 11 - May 14, 2024

Defense attorney David Yannetti continues cross-examination of Caitlin Albert across two main areas. First, he methodically undermines her prior testimony that Katie McLaughlin was merely someone she knew from high school, producing photographs showing them together at a baby shower (June 2021), on a weekend trip to Maine (2016), at a Cape Cod beach, and in Albert's own college kitchen — establishing ongoing social contact through 2021. Second, Yannetti walks Albert through her departure from 34 Fairview Road at approximately 1:45 AM, establishing that she exited the front door, walked to the driveway, and drove past the entire front lawn on the passenger side — effectively circling the lawn — without seeing a baseball cap, a sneaker, pieces of red taillight plastic, or a 6'2" man. Albert repeatedly confirms she saw nothing unusual, though she volunteers that she was not looking out the window while driving away.

ADA Lally's redirect of Caitlin Albert covers three areas raised during cross-examination. First, he establishes that Albert's only contact with Trooper Proctor's children was a single brief encounter years earlier through her Aunt Julie's car window, and that she had never met Trooper Proctor himself before her interview. Second, Lally addresses the period when Brian Albert and Brian Higgins left the kitchen area, with Albert estimating they were gone for at most five minutes. Third, and most extensively, Lally walks Albert through her exit from 34 Fairview Road — she was looking down at snow-covered brick steps while wearing high-heeled boots, walked directly to the passenger side of the car, faced left toward her boyfriend Tristin while he drove, and had no reason to look toward the front lawn near the flagpole at any point.

In a brief 11-utterance recross, defense attorney David Yannetti returns to a point raised during redirect about Caitlin Albert's contact with Trooper Proctor's children. Albert had testified on redirect that she saw the children once, approximately two or three years ago, through her Aunt Julie Albert's car window. Yannetti walks her through the calendar math: two to three years before the May 2024 trial date places the encounter between May 2021 and May 2022 — meaning it occurred either before or shortly after John O'Keefe's death in January 2022. Albert confirms the timeline without dispute.

Tristin Morris, a union pipefitter and boyfriend of Caitlin Albert for approximately eight years, testified about the events of January 28-29, 2022. He described going to the Waterfall Bar & Grille in Canton that evening, then returning home to Easton to rest before an early morning snow plowing job. After receiving calls and texts from Caitlin, he drove back to Canton in her white Jeep Cherokee, which handled better in snow than his Ford Fusion. He picked her up at 34 Fairview Road, texting her upon arrival, and she came out and got in the front passenger seat. Morris testified it was snowing during the drive, he had windshield wipers and defroster on, and described Caitlin's demeanor as normal with nothing out of the ordinary.

David Yannetti cross-examined Tristin Morris about his ties to the Albert and McCabe families, his changing plans on the night of January 28-29, and his observations from the driveway at 34 Fairview. Morris said he did not see a cap, sneaker, red plastic, a man, or anything unusual on the lawn. He also stated that he would not have been staring at the grass. Yannetti used these non-observations and the late timing of Morris's first substantive contact with investigators to advance defense challenges to the scene timeline and investigation.

In a brief redirect of 17 utterances, ADA Lally addressed two points raised during Yannetti's cross-examination. First, Lally asked about the photograph from the June 2022 gathering at Ned Devine's — Morris testified he did not know what the occasion was. Second, Lally established that Morris returned to 34 Fairview Road because Caitlin wanted to come home rather than get snowed in, and that while driving in snowy conditions with his hands at ten and two, Morris had no reason to direct his attention to the front lawn of the Albert residence. This final point directly countered the defense's emphasis on Morris not observing anything on the lawn.

David Yannetti cross-examines Sarah Levinson, establishing her close ties to the Albert family and her six continuous hours inside 34 Fairview Road. He methodically walks through who came and went during the evening, highlighting that she never saw Colin Albert, Brian Higgins, or Caitlin Albert physically leave. Yannetti then focuses on the conditions when Levinson left around 2 AM — snow was just starting to accumulate, grass and pavement were still visible, and exterior lights were on. He asks whether she saw a body, a black baseball cap, a black sneaker, or red plastic on the lawn; Levinson answered no. Levinson also testified that she and Julie walked arm in arm while she looked down at her feet, that she was not looking as the car passed the lawn, and that her observations while walking were of the grass bordering the walkway rather than the entire lawn. He also establishes that no investigator interviewed her until nine months later, when Trooper Michael Proctor took her statement, and that she declined to speak with the defense team.

ADA Lally conducts a brief redirect of Sarah Levinson covering three points. First, he establishes she last visited the basement at 34 Fairview around 2017, during early college. Second, he narrows the scope of her lawn observations from cross-examination — Levinson clarifies she only looked at the grass bordering the front walkway as she walked to the car, not the entirety of the front lawn. Third, Lally addresses her refusal to speak with defense investigators, with Levinson explaining she proactively contacted the defense the next day to tell them she had nothing to discuss, and that she understood she had no legal obligation to do so.