The jury’s deliberations in the Karen Read murder trial will continue into a second day. Closing arguments were delivered Tuesday, and the jury began deliberating shortly before 1:30 p.m., after receiving instructions from Judge Beverly Cannone. The jury was sent home for the day about 4:23 p.m...
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Jackson also tried to indicate that ATF agent Brian Higgins, who had been exchanging flirtatious texts with Read, might have gotten into an altercation with O'Keefe, and then the Alberts' dog Chloe could have bitten O'Keefe's arm.
"So what happened next? We absolutely know that John was in the house... How long does it take to have a cross word? How long does it take to have a fight? How long would it take for Brian Higgins to say to John, 'You know, your girl's been texting me.' A push, a punch, a fall, pull Chloe off his arm, and now its done."
"And then the panic sets in. It wasn't intended to go that far, but what's done is done."
Prosecution gives its closing argument
Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally touched on a number of aspects of his weeks-long case during his closing argument.
He said jurors heard during the trial about Read's blood-alcohol content and the fact that she had been drinking, and they heard O'Keefe's DNA was on the drinking glass found at the scene and on the tail light of Read's SUV. And he noted that prosecution witnesses testified there was no evidence of anyone else's DNA on O'Keefe's body that would have indicated any sort of a struggle with anyone else.
Lally closed by quoting John Adams, who once wrote, "Facts are stubborn things. But whatever may be our wishes or inclinations or the dicates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of the facts and the evidence." He said the facts here show that Read drove her vehicle in reverse at 24 mph, for 62.5 feet, causing catastrophic injuries, leaving him incapacitated and in the freezing cold.
Near the start of his statements, Lally also brought up
the texts sent by Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, arguing that while they were inappropriate, they do not negate the investigation or its findings.
"Text messages from Trooper Proctor are unprofessional, they're indefensible, they're inexcusable. However, as distasteful as those messages are in their content, I submit they had no bearing whatsoever, or impact whatsoever, on the integrity of the entirety of the investigation that the Massachusetts State Police collectively — collectively — conducted into John O'Keefe's death."
He closed by quoting John Adams, who once wrote, "Facts are stubborn things. But whatever may be our wishes or inclinations or the dicates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of the facts and the evidence." He said the facts here show that Read drove her vehicle in reverse at 24 mph, for 62.5 feet, causing catastrophic injuries, leaving him incapacitated and in the freezing cold.
"From that facts and that evidence, I would submit ineluctably demonstrates her guilt on each of the indictments before you, and I would ask that you find it so."
"From that facts and that evidence, I would submit ineluctably demonstrates her guilt on each of the indictments before you, and I would ask that you find it so," he said.
Lally finished his closing shortly before 12:14 p.m. Following a quick break, next up is jury instructions, which are expected to last about an hour.
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