Day 4 - May 3, 2024

Alan Jackson's cross-examination of Katie McLaughlin focused on the circumstances and wording of Karen Read's alleged statement, McLaughlin's documentation, and Jackson's claim that her account changed. McLaughlin said Read looked toward a civilian woman but spoke in response to McLaughlin's question. When Jackson asked about a civilian's reported question wording, McLaughlin said she was unaware of that report. McLaughlin explained that she wrote no report in her role, and she disagreed when Jackson characterized her account as evolved.

In this voir dire conducted outside the jury's presence, Alan Jackson questioned Katie McLaughlin about social media photographs and her relationship with Caitlin Albert. McLaughlin acknowledged knowing Albert and having mutual friends, while characterizing Albert as an acquaintance rather than a close friend. Jackson used the photographs and questioning to challenge that characterization, then asked whether McLaughlin had disclosed her relationship with Caitlin Albert at or around the event and whether she recognized 34 Fairview Road as the Albert family home when she responded there. McLaughlin answered no to both questions, said she learned the home's ownership later, and could not specify when.

ADA Adam Lally conducts a brief voir dire to rehabilitate Katie McLaughlin after defense attorney Alan Jackson presented social media photographs suggesting a closer relationship with Caitlin Albert. Lally elicits testimony that McLaughlin and Albert were never close friends, only acquaintances who shared mutual friends and occasionally appeared in the same large group photos. McLaughlin states she has over 500 social media friends but considers fewer than 10 actual friends, and that she never socialized one-on-one with Albert, never visited Albert's home, and had no idea whose house was adjacent to the scene on January 29th. Judge Cannone rules that the defense's photo exhibits will not be admitted under Rule 14, but grants Jackson limited leeway to question McLaughlin about the relationship, socialization, and social media connections.

After voir dire, Alan Jackson resumed cross-examination of Katie McLaughlin within the court's permitted scope. He questioned her about day trips, mutual friends, photographs, and social-media contact with Caitlin Albert. McLaughlin testified that she had since learned 34 Fairview was the Albert home but had not recognized it that morning, and she agreed that her Proctor statement was not the same as her jury statement. Jackson then asked whether another officer coordinated the Proctor interview; McLaughlin did not recall how it was arranged. In separate questions, she denied recognizing or knowing Kevin Albert and denied knowing him as a Canton police officer; the court sustained an objection to the question whether he was Brian Albert's brother.

On redirect, ADA Adam Lally methodically walks Katie McLaughlin through the nature of her relationship with Caitlin Albert to counter the defense's implication of bias. McLaughlin testifies she has approximately 500 social media friends but far fewer actual friends, never socialized one-on-one with Albert, never visited Albert's home nor had Albert visit hers, and saw her more frequently during high school (graduating Canton High in 2014) than afterward. Lally also establishes that McLaughlin did not know who lived at 34 Fairview Road when she responded to the call, has never spoken to Caitlin Albert about the events of that morning, and only learned the names of Albert family members through news and media coverage after the fact. He further elicits that working in one's hometown is common and even advantageous in civil service, and that firefighters have no discretion to decline calls based on familiarity with the location or people involved.

In a rapid-fire recross of just 16 utterances, Alan Jackson targets the redirect's framing of McLaughlin's 500 social media friends to minimize her connection to Caitlin Albert. Jackson asks how many of those 500 friends McLaughlin has taken day trips with, gone to the beach with, posed for photographs with, and been photographed in swimwear with — receiving 'I don't know' to each. Before Jackson can complete his point that McLaughlin has done all of these things specifically with Albert, Judge Cannone sustains two objections and the witness is excused.

Lt. Greg Woodbury of Canton Fire testified about responding to a call for an unresponsive person on Fairview Road on the morning of January 29, 2022. He described finding O'Keefe supine on the ground covered in snow, with no pulse and no breathing. His crew performed CCR/CPR, moved O'Keefe to the ambulance, and conducted a secondary survey revealing a hematoma on the right eye and scratches on the right forearm. Woodbury then returned to the station but was dispatched back to the same address for a Section 12 involving Karen Read, who was distraught, repeatedly asking 'Is he dead?', and initially resistant to hospital transport. Firefighter Katie Moffin obtained a backstory from a civilian on scene, but the substance was stricken after defense objection.

David Yannetti's cross-examination of Lt. Greg Woodbury focused on two areas. First, Yannetti established that Woodbury's main interaction with Karen Read was during the Section 12 transport, not the initial emergency response, and elicited detailed testimony about Read's emotional state — distraught, grief-stricken, hysterical, and displaying emotion, though Woodbury stated that he did not see actual tears. Yannetti also addressed Read's repeated question 'Is he dead?' Second, Yannetti turned to the injuries Woodbury observed on O'Keefe's body, introducing a photograph (Exhibit 382) depicting scratch marks on O'Keefe's right arm. Woodbury described the observed area as forearm to arm, stating that he mostly noticed the forearm with some marks around there. Woodbury also explained lividity for the jury and noted that O'Keefe's hypothermic state made it difficult to assess skin coloration.

Daniel Whitley, a paramedic firefighter with the Canton Fire Department, testified about responding to a Section 12 psychiatric evaluation call for Karen Read on the morning of January 29, 2022. He described arriving at Fairview Road in heavy snow, finding Read very upset and repeatedly asking whether the person transported by the first ambulance was alive. Whitley recounted Read's statements during the 20-25 minute ambulance transport, including that she didn't want to live if her husband died, that she couldn't take care of the children because they weren't hers or his, and her question about whether someone could survive in the snow without a jacket. He also testified about escorting Read to the psychiatric unit at Good Samaritan Hospital, where she resisted changing into a hospital gown and providing a urine sample.

David Yannetti conducted a brief cross-examination of paramedic Daniel Whitley, focusing on the medical history taken during Karen Read's ambulance transport. After reviewing Jason Becker's report and a police report from Sergeant Yuri Bukhenik, Whitley recalled that the collected medical history included multiple sclerosis. Whitley gave a qualified lay description of MS, saying that, as he understood it, it was progressive and involved neurological muscle control. Whitley also explained that paramedics routinely collect pertinent medical history to pass along to hospital caregivers. The cross was short and targeted, lasting only a few minutes.

Jason Becker, a Canton Fire Department firefighter paramedic, testified about being dispatched at approximately 6:41 a.m. on January 29, 2022, to 34 Fairview Road for a psychiatric evaluation (Section 12) call. He found Karen Read in the front passenger seat of a black SUV with another woman (later identified as Kerry Roberts). Read had blood on her face, neck, and chin, was crying and in shock, and told Becker she had just performed CPR on her husband. During the ambulance transport to Good Samaritan Hospital, Read repeatedly asked whether he could be dead, expressed worry about who would care for the children, said they had gotten into an argument and was sad it was the last thing she said to him, denied alcohol or drug use in response to Becker's immediate assessment question, and stated 'could I have hit him.' Becker described her demeanor as alternating between calm and agitated, with pressured and repetitive speech, but ultimately cooperative.

David Yannetti focused on two key areas during cross-examination of Jason Becker. First, he used Trooper Proctor's February 14, 2022 interview report to refresh Becker's memory and establish that Karen Read had in fact told Becker she consumed alcohol the previous night — a detail Becker initially denied on the stand but acknowledged after reviewing the report. Second, Yannetti established that Read's reference to a last interaction or argument with the person she believed was her boyfriend provided no specifics: she never indicated whether it was in-person, by phone, by text, or by voicemail. Yannetti also confirmed Read's speech was rapid and repetitive, particularly her fixation on asking whether 'he' was dead.