Commonwealth v. Read — Trial ArchiveNicole Albert — Redirect/Recross
76 linesREDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. LALLY:
MR. LALLY: Ms. Albert, with regard to phone calls from your sister, Jennifer McCabe, that morning shortly after 6:00 a.m., did those phone calls wake you up?
MS. ALBERT: No.
MR. LALLY: Did you answer those phone calls?
MS. ALBERT: No.
MR. LALLY: Did you speak to Jennifer McCabe on the phone prior to her or at any point on that morning prior to her coming into your room?
MS. ALBERT: I did not.
MR. LALLY: And you were shown something that says Cellebrite Extraction Report; correct?
MS. ALBERT: Yes.
MR. LALLY: And not just that specific one, but have you ever seen any Cellebrite extraction report before in your life?
MS. ALBERT: No.
MR. LALLY: So fair to say you don’t know how to interpret the data that’s on there?
MS. ALBERT: No.
MR. LALLY: Okay. And fair to say that you don’t know whether or not an answered call or something that’s listed as answered was something that was actually answered or went to voicemail?
MS. ALBERT: Correct.
MR. LALLY: Now, with regard to your dog, Chloe, following that incident in May of 2022 what, if anything, did you and your husband do with regard to the person that had been bitten?
MS. ALBERT: Well, we had gone over to their house to apologize for what had happened and, you know, offered to pay any bills, you know, that they may have had for any injury to the dog or anything. And then after that we just decided that we thought the best thing to do would be to try to rehome her because I just didn’t want something like that to happen again.
MR. LALLY: And can you explain to the jury sort of what other steps that you took in the process of rehoming your dog?
MS. ALBERT: Well, initially IT had called a bunch of shelters. And they were pretty much telling me that it would be hard to rehome her, she was dog aggressive, and they would probably have to put her down. I didn’t want to do that. The family, you know, we love the dog, so I did not want to do that. So I reached out to the woman in Texas who we got the dog from to see if she could help, and she said, you know, she couldn’t take it back but she would try to help me out. So she ended up finding a woman who lived in Vermont and she lived alone, she had big property. It seemed like a good fit. She wanted to take Chloe. And we made arrangements. And I went and met this woman halfway and I gave her Chloe.
MR. LALLY: And what, if any, conversations or contact have you had with that woman in Vermont since rehoming your dog with her?
MS. ALBERT: For a few months after I --
MS. LITTLE: Objection, Your Honor.
JUDGE CANNONE: So not the substance of it.
BY MR. LALLY:
MR. LALLY: Have you had contact with the woman in Vermont?
MS. ALBERT: Yes, I did for a few months, back and forth.
MR. LALLY: Now, with reference to Chloe, when your Sister, Jennifer McCabe, comes in your bedroom hysterical that morning of January 29th was Chloe in the room at the time?
MS. ALBERT: Yes.
MR. LALLY: Now, you were asked some questions about the evening or the early morning when people had come from the Waterfall back to your home; correct?
MS. ALBERT: Uh-hmm.
MR. LALLY: And at some point you were cleaning and Mr. Higgins and your husband were out of your line of Sight; is that correct?
MS. ALBERT: Yes.
MR. LALLY: How long a period of time are we talking?
MS. ALBERT: It wasn’t very long. A couple minutes. I wasn’t watching where everybody was and what everybody was doing.
MR. LALLY: Fair to say a relatively short period of time?
MS. ALBERT: Yes.
MR. LALLY: I have nothing further.
MS. LITTLE: Briefly, Your Honor.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay. So we need to take this down. Thank you. Go ahead.
RECROSS-EXAMINATION BY MS. LITTLE:
MS. LITTLE: Ms. Albert, you never received any voicemails from Jennifer McCabe on January 29th; did you?
MS. ALBERT: Not that I’m aware of.
MS. LITTLE: You also have never produced pursuant to our request any documentation about the whereabouts of Chloe?
MR. LALLY: Objection.
JUDGE CANNONE: The objection is sustained. I’m going to strike that question. Disregard the question. Well, questions aren’t evidence. So leave it on the record, but the objection is sustained.
BY MS. LITTLE:
MS. LITTLE: You’ve never turned over any information about the location of Chloe since the pendency of this case; have you?
MR. LALLY: Objection, Your Honor. May we approach?
JUDGE CANNONE: I’m just going to sustain the objection.
BY MS. LITTLE:
MS. LITTLE: Have you ever provided information about the whereabouts of Chloe to the Commonwealth in this case?
MS. ALBERT: Yes, I believe I have.
MS. LITTLE: You have?
MS. ALBERT: I believe so.
MS. LITTLE: When did you do that?
MR. LALLY: Your Honor, may we approach?
JUDGE CANNONE: Yes.
(Whereupon, there was a sidebar conference as follows:)
MR. LALLY: Your Honor, so over the luncheon break, Attorney Gregory Henning was here with both Mrs. Albert and Mr. Albert, who are his clients. My understanding, and it's the first time I'm learning this, is that apparently there was some meeting that he had with the U.S. Attorney's Office in which they provided documentation related to them to the U.S. Attorney's Office. So I think when the witness is answering this question, she is answering in regard to that. Nothing has ever been turned over to my office or myself. So before we go down that road and into that, I think that's what a truthful answer would be to this. And, obviously, based on the Commonwealth's motion in limine to exclude any reference to that, I just want to cut it off before we get there. I also don't think it's relevant in any way, Shape or form.
MS. LITTLE: This is obviously the first time we are hearing about this. We've had, you know, had motions in court regarding this information for a long time.
JUDGE CANNONE: You've had -- do the two of you want to talk for just one minute? I'm not inclined to allow this questioning based on the representation of Mr. Lally.
MS. LITTLE: I just don't want to leave the jury with the false impression that --
JUDGE CANNONE: You've asked the same question four times after I sustained it twice. I understand. T'll let you, Mr. Jackson, talk with Ms. Little for two seconds.
(Whereupon, there was a discussion off the record.)
MS. LITTLE: Can we suggest a stipulation that she's never provided that information to the Commonwealth or the defendant?
JUDGE CANNONE: But I don't know that she has that obligation, and that's a whole different line of questioning. Do you want to stipulate to that?
MS. LITTLE: No further questions.
MR. LALLY: For that reason -- I think it leaves the impression that she somehow was hiding something or she was never ordered to provide or never even asked to provide anything. The issue I would have with the stipulation is, is it's --
JUDGE CANNONE: All right. I'm going to end this inquiry right now, I guess. Okay.
MR. LALLY: Thank you, Your Honor.
(Whereupon, the sidebar conference concluded.)
JUDGE CANNONE: All right. Ms. Albert, you are all set. Thank you.
(Whereupon, the witness is excused.)
JUDGE CANNONE: Your next witness, Mr. Lally?
MR. LALLY: Yes, your Honor. The Commonwealth would call Mr. Brian Albert to the stand.
JUDGE CANNONE: Okay.