Commonwealth v. Read — Trial ArchiveCharles Rae - Direct (Part 1)
112 linesMR. LALLY: The People call Lieutenant Charles Rae.
COURT CLERK: [Oath administered — largely unintelligible] ...the court and jury in the case...do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
MR. LALLY: Good afternoon, sir.
MR. LALLY: Would you please state your name and spell your last name for the jury?
MR. LALLY: And how are you employed, sir?
MR. LALLY: And how long have you been a member of the Canton Police?
MR. LALLY: And what rank or assignment do you currently have with the Canton Police?
MR. LALLY: And how long have you had the rank of lieutenant with the Canton Police?
MR. LALLY: And what if any sort of specialized duties or assignments do you have within the Canton Police Department?
MR. RAE: Day-to-day it'll be a patrol shift commander. Some ancillary duties include overseeing the Family Services Unit, which includes Juvenile Services, School Resource Officers, sexual assault investigations, and Special Populations.
MR. LALLY: And if I could turn your attention to January 29th, 2022 — were you working that day?
MR. LALLY: And what is the day shift hours?
MR. LALLY: And when you arrived that day at the department, what if anything was going on at the department when you arrived?
MR. RAE: Well, it was a well-forecasted snowstorm. It was in the early stages. So when I came in there was a lot of — as there usually is at shift change — a lot of comings and goings. People leaving the shift, people coming onto the shift. And it was a busy dispatch area at that time.
MR. LALLY: And at some point after you arrived at work, were you made aware of a call that your department had dispatched to shortly after 6:00 a.m. on that day?
MR. LALLY: And so just in general terms, what was it that you learned about that call?
MR. RAE: The outgoing shift sergeant — when he returned — usually there's a roll call. I believe that day I don't recall there being a roll call, but there was an exchange of information, as there typically is, in the dispatch area. And I was advised that there was an unresponsive man found in the snow on Fairview Road.
MR. LALLY: And that outgoing shift supervisor was who?
MR. LALLY: And what if any information were you given as far as the unresponsive —?
MR. LALLY: Let me ask you this — at some point did you learn what his name was?
MR. LALLY: And who did you learn?
MR. LALLY: And were you familiar with Mr. O'Keefe?
PARENTHETICAL: [pause]
MR. LALLY: What's up on the screen, Lieutenant? Do you recognize that?
MR. LALLY: At some point, did you become aware of where he lived?
MR. LALLY: And from what you had learned from Sergeant Goode — in addition to Mr. O'Keefe being transported from the scene to the hospital, who if anyone else was transported from the scene to the hospital?
MR. RAE: I was advised that his girlfriend was on the scene as well, and she was subsequently transported to Good Samaritan Hospital — the same hospital that Mr. O'Keefe was transported to.
MR. LALLY: And at some point over the course of that morning, did you become aware of any children that Mr. O'Keefe was responsible for as far as legal guardianship?
MR. RAE: Yes. I was made aware that he was the guardian of two young children that may or may not be at the house at that time, unattended, given the fact that both he and his
MR. LALLY: Based on that information, what if anything did you decide to do?
MR. RAE: I'm not sure if it was a suggestion of the former Chief or if it's just something that organically developed, but it seemed like the right thing to do — to do a well-being check on the children at 1 Meadow Ave, which was Mr. O'Keefe's residence.
MR. LALLY: Just with respect to the former Chief specifically — who are you talking about?
MR. LALLY: And a well-being check — if you could describe to the jury what is involved in that and what does it entail as it applies to this situation?
MR. RAE: As it applies to this situation, we believe that there may be two young unattended children, and knowing that both Mr. O'Keefe and Miss Read wouldn't be returning to the house anytime soon, we wanted to check on them so that if they woke up and wondered where everybody was and needed some assistance, that we perhaps could provide that and help locate other loved ones or bring them to the police station if we had to — just to provide some sort of comforting presence.
MR. LALLY: And within the Canton Police Department, is there a specific cruiser that's allocated for the shift supervisor?
MR. LALLY: Now so it appears — when you pull into the driveway at 1 Meadow Ave, was that correct?
MR. LALLY: And is that the cruiser that you used to go to 1 Meadow Ave?
MR. LALLY: And when you say "we," who if anyone went with?
MR. LALLY: And what if any role does Sergeant Lank have with regard to the department specifically?
MR. RAE: At that time — now he's a detective sergeant and —, at that time he was a shift sergeant.
MR. LALLY: And so the 682 cruiser that you were driving — are you aware that it has a cruiser camera fixed to it?
MR. LALLY: Have you had occasion to review that footage from that particular cruiser on that particular morning?
MR. LALLY: Your Honor, if I could ask to publish for the jury a portion of Exhibit 41?
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay.
MR. LALLY: Gentlemen, if I could have that on the screen. Miss Gilman, if you could fast forward to 2 hours, 3 minutes and 53 seconds. And what's up on the screen right now, Lieutenant? Do you recognize what that is?
MR. RAE: That'll be the interior of the sallyport, door 3, which is where the 682 would have been parked.
MR. LALLY: And then from there is where you drove from that position to 1 Meadow, correct?
MR. LALLY: Miss Gilman, if you could just run for a bit. And Miss Gilman, if you could fast forward to about 2 hours, 9 minutes and 25 seconds — if you could play from there.
MR. LALLY: And what do you recognize that to be?
MR. LALLY: And sort of toward the middle of the screen — that's sort of a front door to the home. Is that correct?
MR. LALLY: The door that you went to — is that the door, or did you go to a different door, if you know?
MR. LALLY: Now with respect to this home, had you ever been there before?
MR. LALLY: Subsequent to this, did you come to learn also that the residents of 1 Meadow Ave had cameras of their own?
MR. LALLY: Have you seen camera footage from both the driveway and the front door from the residence from that morning when you were there?
MR. LALLY: Now as far as a well-being check, if you could just sort of physically describe to the jury what it is that you're doing with regard to a well-being check when you come to a house like this.
MR. RAE: We're going to check to see if there's anybody there, which is typically the case, and we're going to go knock on doors and see if there's any activity of anybody at the home.
PARENTHETICAL: [pause]
MR. LALLY: And there's a vehicle directly in front of you, correct?
MR. LALLY: And at the time you were not aware of the particulars of the incident that occurred earlier in the morning, correct?
MR. LALLY: And fair to say from what's depicted up on the screen — that was essentially what the driveway looked like at that time when you pulled in there at approximately 8:23 in the morning, correct?
MR. LALLY: And as far as when you went to knock on the door — are you just knocking on the front door and then no one answers and that's it, or do you look around the house? What is it that you do on a well-being check?
MR. RAE: You would go to the front door, or the door that you think everyone would use in whatever the situation was. You take a cursory glance around to see if there's any reason to check anywhere else. In this case, it's a fenced backyard, so I'm not going to be going back there, because in this case we weren't looking for someone that might be a dead body — we were looking for two children that would be up and active.
MR. LALLY: Now as far as that vehicle that's parked in the driveway in front of you — did you have any reason to look at it, inspect it, or anything like that at this point when you're at the house?
MR. LALLY: And as far as any condition of it — specifically the right rear passenger side — you didn't have any occasion to go inspecting that or looking at it at that point, correct?
MR. LALLY: Now as far as, from this video, the condition of the right rear passenger side and the condition versus the left rear passenger side — that's how it appeared in the driveway when you pulled up, correct?
MR. LALLY: Miss Gilman, if you could hit play.
MR. LALLY: Sorry — the individual that just sort of walked across the front of the cruiser, do you recognize that?
MR. LALLY: And who is that?
MR. LALLY: Your Honor - I'm not sure how - may we approach?
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay.
JUDGE CANNONE: Lieutenant, we're going to need you back tomorrow. We're going to break for today. Okay, so jury — you can stay just for a minute, please. That's it for today. I give you those same three cautions: please do not discuss this case with anyone; don't do any independent research or investigation into this case; if you happen to see, hear, or read anything about this case, please disregard it and let us know. We'll see you tomorrow morning — report at 8:30. That's it for today. We're good, thank you. You don't need me for anything, right?
MR. LALLY: I do not.
COURT OFFICER: All rise, please.