Commonwealth v. Read — Trial Archive
Trial 2 Trial Day
◀ Day 31 Trial 2 Day 33 ▶

Day 32 - June 12, 2025

Judge Beverly J. Cannone · Trial 2 · 1 proceedings · 189 lines

Day 32 of 36

Judge Cannone holds the charge conference ahead of Friday closings, denying the defense motion for required finding and resolving key jury instruction disputes.

Full day summary

After the prior day's testimony and conditional discussion of whether the Commonwealth would offer rebuttal, Day 32 was devoted entirely to the charge conference. Judge Cannone denied the defense's renewed motion for required finding of not guilty after Yannetti summarized the expert and fact witness testimony challenging the Commonwealth's vehicle-collision theory and Lally opposed on grounds of witness bias and internal inconsistency. The parties resolved several contested jury instruction requests: the defense withdrew its missing witness and lost/destroyed evidence instructions, while the judge allowed Bowden argument on police investigative failure but explicitly barred any third-party culprit argument naming Higgins or Albert. A dispute over a curative instruction arose from ADA Brennan's cross-examination of Dr. Wolfe using Exhibit 88 — holes in Karen Read's hoodie that were actually criminalist cuts from May 2023, which defense argued Brennan had misrepresented as incident-related. The judge took the curative instruction request under advisement. The day concluded with scheduling confirmed: closings, jury charge, and the start of deliberations all set for Friday.

Key Moments
  • Judge Cannone denies the defense motion for required finding of not guilty, preserving all charges for the jury.
  • Judge allows Bowden argument (police investigative failure) but bars direct third-party culprit argument naming Higgins or Albert.
  • Defense withdraws requests for missing witness and lost/destroyed evidence jury instructions.
  • Alessi argues for a curative instruction over ADA Brennan's use of Exhibit 88 — hoodie holes that were criminalist cuts, not incident damage — which the judge takes under advisement.
  • Judge sets Friday schedule: 9:00 closings, short lunch, jury charge, and deliberations to begin Friday afternoon.
Notable Quotes
Beverly J. Cannone
“So, you cannot argue that either Brian Higgins or Brian Albert committed it, or had the motive, and all of that. Not third party culprit. Pure third party culprit.”
The judge's ruling drawing the line between Bowden and third-party culprit argument defined the outer boundary of the defense closing.
Robert Alessi
“And I underscore, your honor, we didn't cause this problem. We didn't cause any of this issue. So to me, I do not understand why the Commonwealth would not support this.”
Alessi's frustration over the Exhibit 88 issue captures the central unresolved dispute from the day — whether the jury will receive a correction on the hoodie hole evidence.
Beverly J. Cannone
“I want the jurors to start deliberating. I don't want to end the charge and send them home for the weekend.”
The judge's deliberation scheduling directive signals the trial's urgency and frames the stakes heading into the final day.
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Procedural — Motions

Pre-closing charge conference: the judge denied the defense's required-finding motion, allowed Bowden argument while barring pure third-party-culprit argument, reserved instruction disputes, and set Friday closings and deliberations.

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Procedural
Procedural - Motions
178 lines

Judge Cannone convened the charge conference before closing arguments. Yannetti renewed the defense motion for a required finding of not guilty and summarized the defense view of the expert and fact-witness evidence. Lally opposed the motion, and Cannone denied it. The parties then addressed jury instructions: the defense withdrew its missing-witness and lost-or-destroyed-evidence requests; Cannone allowed a Bowden investigative-failure argument but barred a pure third-party-culprit argument concerning Brian Higgins or Brian Albert. The requested limitation of the malice instruction to third-prong malice remained unresolved while Cannone considered whether authority supported departing from the model instruction. Robert Alessi sought additional curative language concerning Exhibit 88, arguing that Brennan's questioning of Dr. Wolfe had created a false impression about holes later made by a criminalist. Lally described any misstatement as an acknowledged mistake and argued that the contemporaneous instruction was sufficient. Cannone took the request under advisement. The court then set the schedule for closings, instructions, and the start of deliberations.

+1 procedural segment
◀ Day 31 Trial 2 Day 33 ▶