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Karen Read’s legal team is nearing the end of the case for her defense with crash reconstruction expert Dr. Daniel Wolfe called to the stand Friday.
Dr. Wolfe played video for the jury that showed multiple recreations of an impact involving a 2021 Lexus LX 570 SUV and a crash dummy to simulate that alleged impact of Read’s vehicle of the same make and model on her former boyfriend, John O’Keefe, whom she is accused of killing in a drunken hit-and-run.
In each simulation, at speeds ranging from 10 to 29 mph, the damage to the vehicle’s taillight was “inconsistent” with that damage police recorded on Read’s actual taillight.
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WATCH: Crash expert plays video reconstruction of Lexus SUV on crash dummy
While most of the impacts shattered the outer lens, internal components that were destroyed in Read’s vehicle remained intact in multiple test taillights.
“Did you reach any opinions or conclusions as to whether the damage to the right rear tail light of the subject vehicle is consistent or inconsistent with an impact to a right arm during a high-speed reversing maneuver?” asked defense attorney Alan Jackson.
“It was inconsistent,” Wolfe replied.
Wolfe also obtained sweatshirts that were the same brand and fabric blend of the one O’Keefe was wearing when he died. Notably, the impacts did not produce similar holes in the cloth.
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“Do you have an opinion or conclusion as to whether or not the damage that you saw to the hoodie related to John O’Keefe is consistent or inconsistent with an impact from a right rear taillight of the subject SUV?” Jackson asked.
“It was inconsistent,” Wolfe replied.
“And what do you base that opinion on?” Jackson followed up.
“Based upon all of the impact testing that we did with the closed ATD arm in the laboratory, as well as the field,” Wolfe said, using an acronym that refers to the formal name for crash dummies – Anthropomorphic Test Device.
Judge Beverly Cannone called a midday lunch break around 12:40 p.m. Special prosecutor Hank Brennan was expected to kick off cross-examination when court resumes.
Friday marks the 28th day of her retrial on murder and other charges in the death of O’Keefe, a 46-year-old Boston police officer.
Wolfe is the director of accident reconstruction at a firm called ARCCA.
Earlier in his testimony, he said ARCCA designed a specialized “cannon” to simulate throwing a cocktail glass at Read’s taillight and determined that similar damage could have been caused if someone threw the glass at around 31 mph and 37 mph.
“From the 37 mile per hour test, we are getting damage that’s generally consistent, and by that I mentioned we have portions of the outer lens missing, the underlying diffuser,” he said.
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“There was also some fracturing on the backside of the assembly. So again we observed damage that was generally consistent with that of the subject taillight.”
Wolfe said he gave an opinion that the damage Read’s SUV was generally consistent with someone throwing that drinking glass at least 37 mph.
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In another ARCCA test, the reconstructionists wanted to see if an impact between the taillight and the back of O’Keefe’s head could’ve caused his skull fracture.
Wolfe said he tested at 15 mph. Damage to the test taillight was significantly more than Read’s taillight at that speed – but it didn’t generate enough force to cause a skull fracture.
ARCCA obtained sweatshirts from the same company and of the same fabric blend as the one O’Keefe was wearing when he died and also simulated strikes to see if the fabric would puncture in the same way. At 10 and 17 mph, the taillight sustained different levels of damage but the fabric remained undamaged.
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Prosecutors accused Read, 45, of hitting O’Keefe with her 2021 Lexus SUV and driving away as he died on the ground with a skull fracture during a blizzard.
Investigators recovered a broken cocktail glass and a black straw from the scene and found additional glass on Read’s bumper. However, experts testified earlier at trial that the bar glass was not a match for the fragments found on her car.
The defense denies that she struck him and has called witnesses who have attributed his injuries to other causes, including a dog bite and a potential fistfight with a man Read was flirting with behind his back.
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Special prosecutor Hank Brennan unsuccessfully tried to have Wolfe and a colleague, Dr. Andrew Renstchler, blocked from testifying before the start of the trial.
Wolfe testified during the first trial, which ended with a deadlocked jury, that damage to Read’s SUV is inconsistent with a collision involving O’Keefe.
Read told reporters outside court Wednesday that her defense could rest as soon as next Tuesday. There was no court on Thursday.
She could face up to life in prison if convicted. Her first trial, in which the defense claimed she had been framed, ended with a deadlocked jury last year.
