Commonwealth v. Read — Trial ArchiveCharles Rae — Direct (Part 1)
128 linesWhereupon, CHARLES RAE having been first duly sworn, was examined and testified under oath as follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. LALLY:
MR. LALLY: Good afternoon, sir.
MR. LALLY: Could you please state your name and spell your last name for the jury, please?
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 would be patrol shift commander. Some ancillary duties include overseeing the family services unit, which includes juvenile services, school resource officers, sexual assault investigation 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 of the Canton Police?
MR. LALLY: And, when you arrived that day at the department, what, if anything, was sort of going on at the department that day when you arrived?
MR. RAE: Well, there 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, a shift change, a lot of comings and goings, people leaving the shift, people coming onto the shift. 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 been dispatched to shortly after 6:00 a.m. on that date?
MR. LALLY: And just in general terms, what was it that you learned about that call?
MR. RAE: The outgoing shift sergeant, when he returned, usually there is a roll call. I believe that day I don't recall there being a roll call. But there was exchange of information, as there typically is in the dispatch area. 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 male?
MR. LALLY: Let me ask you this. At some point, did you learn what his name was?
MR. LALLY: And who did you learn him to be?
MR. LALLY: And were you familiar with Mr. O'Keefe?
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 girlfriend were transported.
MR. LALLY: And, 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 was just something that organically developed. But it seemed like the right thing to do, to do a well-being check of the children at One Meadows Ave., which was Mr. O'Keefe's residence.
MR. LALLY: And 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 sort of 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 Ms. Read wouldn't be returning to the house anytime soon, we wanted to check on them so if they woke up, wondering where everybody was and need some assistance that perhaps we could provide that and help locate other loved one or bring them to the police station if we had to, just to kind of provide some sort of comforting presence.
MR. LALLY: And, within the Canton Police Department, is there a specific cruiser that's allocated for sort of the shift supervisor?
MR. LALLY: And is that the cruiser that you used to go to One Meadows Ave.?
MR. LALLY: And, when you say "we," who, if anyone, went with you?
MR. LALLY: And what, if any, role does Sergeant Meehan have with regard to the department, specific role?
MR. LALLY: Okay. And so the 682 cruiser that you were driving, are you aware that that has a cruiser camera affixed 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: You may.
MR. LALLY: Ms. Gilman, if I could have that on the screen and if I could ask, Ms. Gilman, if you could fast forward to 2:03:53.
(Whereupon, the video is played.)
BY MR. LALLY:
MR. LALLY: And what's up on the screen right now, Lieutenant? Do you recognize what that is?
MR. RAE: That would be the interior of Sally Port 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 One Meadows Ave., correct?
MR. LALLY: Ms. Gilman, if you could just run it for about a minute or so?
(Whereupon, the video is played.)
MR. LALLY: Ms. Gilman, if you could pause it there. Ms. Gilman, if you could, I would ask you to fast forward to about 2:09:25 and if you could play it from there, please.
(Whereupon, the video is paused and played.)
MR. LALLY: What's up on the screen, Lieutenant, do you recognize that?
MR. LALLY: What do you recognize that to be?
MR. LALLY: And sort of towards the middle of the screen? Is that sort of the front door to the home; is that fair to say?
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 residence of One Meadows Ave. had cameras of its own?
MR. LALLY: And 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 is it that you're doing with regard to a well-being check when you come to a house like this?
MR. RAE: We are going to check to see if there is anybody there, which is typically the case. And we are going to go knock on doors and see if there is any activity of anybody at the home.
MR. LALLY: And, Ms. Gilman, if you could hit "play"?
(Whereupon, the video is played.)
MR. LALLY: If you could pause it there, Ms. Gilman.
(Whereupon, the video is paused.)
MR. LALLY: Now, so it appears from this you pull into the driveway at One Meadows Ave.; is that correct?
MR. LALLY: And there is a vehicle directly in front of you, correct?
MR. LALLY: And, at the time, you were not aware of sort of the particulars of the incident that occurred earlier in the morning, correct?
MR. RAE: And fair to say from what's depicted up on the screen, was that essentially what the driveway looked like at that time when you pulled in there at approximately 8:23 in the morning, correct? A Yes.
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 at whatever the situation was. You take a cursory glance around to see if there is any reason to check anywhere else. In this case, there is a fenced backyard. So I'm not going to be going back there. 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 reasons to look at it, inspect it or anything like that at this point that 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 vis- a-vis the left rear passenger side, that is how it appeared in the driveway when you pulled up, correct?
MR. LALLY: Ms. Gilman, if you could hit play?
(Whereupon, the video is played.)
MR. LALLY: If you could pause right there, Ms. Gilman.
(Whereupon, the video is paused.)
MR. LALLY: I'm sorry. The individual who 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.
(Whereupon, there was a sidebar conference as follows:)
MR. LALLY: I just want to -- scheduling. I have a few more minutes of this video and then the Ring videos, as well.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay. So we'll break. He has to come back tomorrow. Okay.
(Whereupon, the sidebar conference concluded.)
JUDGE CANNONE: Lieutenant, we are going to need you back tomorrow. We are going to break for today. If you could stay just for a minute, please. Jurors, that's it for today. We'd ask those same three or 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. Let us know. We'll see you tomorrow morning. So report at 8:30 tomorrow.
(Whereupon, the jury is escorted from the courtroom and excused for the day.)
JUDGE CANNONE: You don't need me for anything, right?
MR. LALLY: I don't, Your Honor.
MR. JACKSON: No.
JUDGE CANNONE: All right. We'll see you tomorrow morning.
(Whereupon, the Court adjourned.)