Trial 1 Trial Day
◀ Day 23 Trial 1 Day 25 ▶

Day 24 - June 13, 2024

Tully Testimony Concludes as DNA Analysts Testify and Jury Instructions Are Set

9Proceedings
7Pages
5Witnesses
2,457Lines
9 sidebars
Day 24 of 35
Appearing:

Tully completed testimony on video, phone records, and evidence documentation before DNA analysts described testing results and limitations. The court set jury-instruction submissions.

Full day summary

Lieutenant Brian Tully completed his testimony about the investigation, surveillance video, cell-site and RTT records, and evidence collection. On cross-examination, he acknowledged that his report did not properly memorialize the plastic fragments and testified that cell-site records alone could indicate only a general area; on redirect and recross, he gave qualified opinions about the available phone and video records and said he would need Verizon's records key to resolve certain timing questions. The Commonwealth then presented DNA testimony from Bode Technology analysts Nicholas Bradford and Tess Chart, and State Police laboratory analyst Andre Porto. They described testing of taillight, hair, glass, and clothing samples, including reported mixture comparisons, testing limitations, and the limits on determining how or when DNA was deposited. The court also directed the parties to submit proposed jury-instruction packets for a later charge conference.

Brian Tully — Continued Direct Examination on Video and Cell-Phone Records

Tully explained that call-detail records can support general location determinations but not an exact phone location without additional engineering records, then described CSLI and ranging maps for the phone ending in 9554.

View moment →

Brian Tully - Cross

Tully acknowledged five plastic pieces in Exhibits 570 and 571, while his report described three; he said the report did not properly memorialize the collection and speculated that a small fragment may have separated from a larger piece.

View moment →

Tully Explains Video Review and Cell-Phone Mapping

Tully said the limited Verizon entries did not permit a route-of-travel analysis and gave a qualified opinion that the defendant, vehicle, and phone were on Washington Street outside Temple Beth Abraham at 5:18.

View moment →

Nicholas Bradford — Direct Examination

Bradford testified that the passenger-side taillight extract produced a three-person DNA mixture with at least one male contributor.

View moment →

Tess Chart Explains Mitochondrial DNA Hair Comparison

Chart testified that the mitochondrial profile from hair sample EO1 was consistent with John O'Keefe's profile and that he could not be excluded as a possible contributor.

View moment →

Andre Porto - Direct Examination

Porto explained that DNA testing cannot determine how or when DNA was deposited and described factors affecting DNA degradation.

View moment →

Sidebar on Jury Instructions and Next-Day Schedule

The court directed both sides to provide proposed jury-instruction packets the following day and said a formal charge conference would follow, with the proposals indicating whether either side sought lesser-included instructions.

View moment →
Brian Tully
“I can make generalizations that the phone is going to be in the area of the antenna. But I would never, with just that specific information, be able to tell you exactly where it is.”
Tully stated a limitation of using cell-site listing information alone to locate a phone.
Brian Tully
“So I'll take the hit that my report does not properly memorialize it.”
Tully acknowledged a discrepancy between his report and the evidence bags' contents.
Tess Chart
“So the mitochondrial profile that was obtained from the sample, the hair sample, was consistent with the mitochondrial DNA profile obtained from John O'Keefe. So, therefore, John O'Keefe cannot be excluded as a possible contributor of that hair.”
Chart stated her comparison conclusion for the hair sample and O'Keefe's reference profile.
Andre Porto
“So transfer DNA just means DNA that sort of transfers based on just some activity that could happen. Like if somebody touches a water bottle, they might transfer some DNA onto that water bottle.”
Porto explained the concept of transfer DNA before stating that he could not determine how or when DNA was deposited.
Video thumbnail for Day 24 — Tully (cont), Gallerani, Bradford +2 more 6h 27m
Watch →

1. Brian Tully — Direct (Part 2)

Lieutenant Brian Tully testified about investigative decisions and video and phone-location evidence he said were consistent with a black SUV associated with the defendant.

Direct
Brian Tully Adam Lally
639 lines

Lieutenant Brian Tully testified that investigators had no basis to search inside 34 Fairview Road and had excluded Canton Police personnel from the investigation because of Kevin Albert's relationship to the homeowner. He described surveillance video from the Canton Public Library and Temple Beth Abraham, identifying black SUVs he said were consistent with the defendant's vehicle at several times on Washington Street. The court admitted the Temple Beth Abraham video, a location map, call records for the phone ending in 9554, CSLI maps, and range reports as Exhibits 572 through 576. Tully explained that CSLI can indicate a phone's general area but not its exact location without additional engineering records, and testified that the video and phone-data records were consistent with one another.

2 sidebars inside this proceeding
  1. Cell Number Exhibit Redaction Counsel discussed admitting an item containing Ms. Read's cell number after redaction, with defense counsel requesting a quick review.
  2. Address Disclosure and Redaction Counsel discussed an address stated in court, redaction from exhibits, and defense counsel's concern about public access to the related transcript portion.

2. Brian Tully — Cross

Defense counsel questioned Lieutenant Brian Tully about the 34 Fairview search decisions, sally port video, plastic-fragment documentation, and his cell-site and RTT-ranging maps.

Cross
Brian Tully Alan Jackson
804 lines

Defense counsel questioned Lieutenant Brian Tully about investigators' decision not to seek a warrant, consent, or a forensic search inside 34 Fairview; his handling and review of sally port video; and differences between his SERT report and the plastic fragments in Exhibits 570 and 571. Tully acknowledged that his report did not properly memorialize the plastic collection, while saying the evidence-bag notes and his memory were more accurate. A map was admitted as Exhibit 577. The defense also challenged the interpretation of Tully's cell-site and RTT-ranging maps; Tully agreed with the requested arithmetic but disputed that the record showed the device moved between the mapped distances during the listed four-thousandths-of-a-second interval. He also said he had concerns about the reliability of an account placing a Ford Edge near 34 Fairview.

1 sidebar inside this proceeding
  1. Expert Calculation Questioning Counsel disputed whether the expert witness could be asked to perform a calculation or demonstration concerning device movement.

3. Brian Tully — Redirect/Recross

Lieutenant Brian Tully continued testimony about roadway evidence, video and Verizon records, followed by defense questioning of the timing and distance data used for his range-map arcs.

Redirect
Brian Tully Adam Lally
112 lines

On redirect, Lieutenant Brian Tully explained why he considered a witness's Ford Edge account unreliable and testified that physical evidence was on the roadway near 34 Fairview Road. After a sidebar ruling limiting hearsay-based testimony, he said his own review indicated the Canton Police sally port video appeared motion activated. Tully distinguished contemporaneous notes on evidence bags from a report written 11 days later, described limits in the available Verizon records, and gave a qualified opinion that the defendant, vehicle, and phone were on Washington Street outside Temple Beth Abraham at 5:18.

1 sidebar inside this proceeding
  1. Hearsay and Investigation Testimony Counsel raised a hearsay objection to testimony about reviewed material and discussed whether it could be offered in connection with the stated Bowden defense.
Recross
Brian Tully Alan Jackson
72 lines

Defense counsel used an RTT record sheet marked Exhibit KKK for Identification to question Lieutenant Tully about the timing and distance information associated with his range-map arcs. Tully maintained that the distances, rather than the times, established the arcs, and said he would need to review Verizon's records key to determine whether the listed times were the exact times for the first and last distances. The court sustained an objection to a proposed travel-speed question and directed counsel to ask it differently.

sidebar
Certified Weather Records Admission
7 lines

Counsel discussed the defense objection to admission of certified weather records based on the procedure used to provide them to the court.

sidebar
Call Detail Record Admission
27 lines

Counsel disputed admission of a selected call-detail record sheet rather than the complete records after testimony about its contents.

4. J. Ryan Gallerani — Direct

Brian Gallerani testified about collecting, documenting, and shipping buccal-swab samples from Sergeant Bukhenik and Trooper Proctor.

Direct
J. Ryan Gallerani Adam Lally
50 lines

Brian Gallerani, a Needham Police Department sergeant certified to collect buccal swabs, testified that he collected samples from Sergeant Bukhenik and Trooper Proctor on January 16, 2024. He said he packaged, photographed, and entered the samples into evidence, then shipped them to Bode Technology in accordance with the lab's instructions.

Cross Waived
J. Ryan Gallerani - Cross Waived
6 lines

5. Nicholas Bradford — Direct

Nicholas Bradford testified that DNA from a passenger-side taillight extract supported inclusion of John O'Keefe under his stated likelihood-ratio assumptions; a hair sample was sent for mitochondrial testing after STR testing was not possible.

Direct
Nicholas Bradford Adam Lally
185 lines

Nicholas Bradford, a Bode Technology DNA analyst, described his qualifications, laboratory procedures, and the testing of an extract from a passenger-side taillight and a hair recovered from an exterior rear panel. He testified that the taillight extract was a three-person mixture with at least one male contributor; under his stated likelihood-ratio assumptions, the result provided very strong support for inclusion of John O'Keefe and support for exclusion of Yuriy Bukhenik and Michael Proctor. Bradford said the hair sample was below the limit of detection for STR testing and was sent for mitochondrial testing by Tess Chart.

Cross Waived
Nicholas Bradford - Cross Waived
8 lines

6. Tess Chart — Direct

Forensic DNA analyst Tess Chart testified that hair sample EO1 had a mitochondrial DNA profile consistent with John O'Keefe, who could not be excluded as a possible contributor.

sidebar
Afternoon Witness Scheduling
21 lines

Counsel and the judge discussed the expected length and order of afternoon witnesses, including whether another witness should follow Mr. Porto.

Direct
Tess Chart Adam Lally
142 lines

Forensic DNA analyst Tess Chart described her training, Bode Technology's procedures, and the distinction between autosomal and mitochondrial DNA. She testified that hair sample EO1 produced a mitochondrial profile consistent with John O'Keefe's profile, so he could not be excluded as a possible contributor. Chart also testified that the profile was not found in the listed EMPOP databases and supported an exclusion of at least 99.895 percent of the population using a 95-percent confidence interval.

Cross Waived
Tess Chart - Cross Waived David Yannetti
6 lines

7. Andre Porto — Direct

Forensic scientist Andre Porto reported DNA comparison results, including mixtures supporting John O'Keefe's inclusion, while noting limits on what testing could show about deposition.

Direct
Andre Porto Adam Lally
346 lines

Forensic scientist Andre Porto described Massachusetts State Police DNA-laboratory procedures and reported comparison results supporting inclusion of John O'Keefe in mixtures from a passenger-side taillight, a broken drinking glass, and several clothing samples. He also reported samples that were unsuitable for comparison or had no detected human DNA, and said DNA testing could not determine how or when DNA was deposited.

Cross Waived
Andre Porto - Cross Waived Elizabeth Little
4 lines
sidebar
Trial Timeline Estimate
7 lines

The judge and prosecutor discussed whether the trial remained on target for the previously stated estimate and planned to address the jury before further sidebar discussion.

Procedural
Procedural
3 lines
sidebar
Sidebar on Jury Instructions and Next-Day Schedule
18 lines

The court confirmed that the parties expected to submit jury-instruction packets the next day. The judge said a formal charge conference would follow and that the proposals would indicate whether either side sought lesser-included instructions; the court also planned to tell jurors to expect a full day rather than schedule voir dire.

◀ Day 23 Trial 1 Day 25 ▶