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Defense questions ‘mirrored’ video of Read’s SUV
A Massachusetts State Police sergeant returned to the stand Thursday within the homicide trial of Karen Learn, the Massachusetts lady accused of hitting John O’Keefe, her boyfriend, with an SUV and leaving him to die in a snowstorm.Learn, 44, of Mansfield, has pleaded not responsible to second-degree homicide and different fees. The prosecution says she hit O’Keefe together with her black SUV outdoors of a house at 34 Fairview Highway in Canton throughout a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022, following an evening of ingesting. Her protection plans to argue that another person is liable for killing O’Keefe. Protection lawyer Alan Jackson questioned Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Yuri Bukhenick a few video that reveals Learn’s SUV contained in the storage of the Canton Police Division.Jackson identified writing on one other car within the storage and on a storage door. Bukhenick mentioned the video was “mirrored,” nevertheless he couldn’t clarify why. The sergeant defined that what the jurors have been seeing was the motive force’s facet of the automobile, and never the passenger’s facet, which appeared to have a broken taillight in one other video proven to the jury. “So the video is inverted. Utterly inverted. It is a mirror picture, which means that the motive force facet is the passenger facet and vice versa however the timestamp throughout the underside isn’t inverted, which suggests any individual needed to put that on the inverted, the manipulated, the altered video on objective,” protection lawyer Alan Jackson instructed reporters outdoors the courthouse. Earlier, Bukhenick testified that investigators recovered a number of items of proof outdoors the house on a number of events within the weeks after O’Keefe’s dying. The proof included a Boston Police Division hat, a ingesting straw and a number of other chards of glass and items of plastic, which have been revealed after the snow melted. He eliminated the hat and from a brown proof bag and displayed it to the jury. Assistant District Legal professional Adam Lally performed the audio of an interview that Bukhenick mentioned he performed with Learn on June 9, 2022. “You are conscious he was overwhelmed up by Brian and Colin Albert? I imply, we’re all in on the identical joke, proper? My tail mild was cracked, and John was pulverized,” Learn mentioned.Bukhenik mentioned he suggested Learn at that time to cease speaking. Protection lawyer Alan Jackson questioned Bukhenik in regards to the investigation and why he initially thought O’Keefe’s dying was on account of a “bodily altercation.””I communicated our suspicions to the medical expert’s workplace,” Bukhenik testified. Jackson additionally handed Bukhenik an proof bag containing O’Keefe’s clothes. The label signifies it was Trooper Michael Proctor who positioned the clothes within the baggage.Bukhenik confirmed the label on the bag reveals the clothes was bagged on Feb 4, 2022, six days after they have been first recovered from O’Keefe when he was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital. Bukheikc mentioned the objects had been within the snow and so they have been “drying throughout that point.”Jackson additionally questioned Bukhenik about surveillance video that reveals Learn backing her SUV out of O’Keefe’s residence on Jan. 29, 2022.”It seems that there’s motion” of the rear wheel of O’Keefe’s car as Learn’s SUV backs out, Bukhenik mentioned. Stay updates: Comply with posts from reporter David BienickRelated hyperlinks:Recap of testimony, proof from every day of the case Proof slideshowWhat to know in regards to the case:Karen Learn, 44, of Mansfield, is accused of second-degree homicide and different fees. The prosecution says she hit her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, together with her car outdoors of a house in Canton throughout a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022, following an evening of ingesting. She returned hours later to search out him in a snowbank.Learn has pleaded not responsible.Learn and her protection group declare she is the sufferer of a cover-up and plan to current a third-party wrongdoer protection. They declare O’Keefe was overwhelmed inside the house, bitten by a canine, after which left outdoors.In pretrial motions, prosecutors revealed the existence of textual content messages they mentioned advised a “romantic entanglement” with a buddy who was current at areas Learn and O’Keefe visited on the night time of the incident. Different paperwork have additionally advised hassle within the relationship between Learn and O’Keefe.Learn can also be accused of getting frequent contact with a controversial blogger often known as “Turtleboy,” Aiden Kearney, who now faces fees in associated circumstances.Opening statements have been delivered on April 29.The trial is predicted to final 6-8 weeks.Case proof slideshow: Prosecutors try to indicate that Learn’s alleged actions outdoors 34 Fairview Highway have been intentional. Learn’s attorneys have alleged there was a cover-up involving members of a number of legislation enforcement companies. They are saying O’Keefe was overwhelmed by another person inside the house, bitten by a canine after which left outdoors.The protection, which has been allowed to current what known as third-party wrongdoer proof, argues that investigators targeted on Learn as a result of she was a “handy outsider” who saved them from having to contemplate different suspects. These they’ve implicated embody Brian Albert, who owned the house in Canton the place O’Keefe died, and Brian Higgins, an ATF agent who was there that night time.Higgins testified a few “romantic” encounter and a collection of textual content messages he exchanged with Learn. In these flirty messages, Learn instructed him that O’Keefe had “connected” with one other lady throughout a trip. The protection is attempting to persuade the jury that O’Keefe was overwhelmed and advised that Colin Albert, nephew of the household that owned the house on Fairview Highway, had been in a struggle. Albert mentioned a hand damage got here when he fell in a driveway and that he by no means noticed O’Keefe throughout the celebration of his cousin’s birthday on the night time in query.He additionally confirmed on cross-examination that he has recognized the lead state police investigator on this case, Trooper Michael Proctor, since he was a toddler. A former Massachusetts police toxicologist, Nicholas Roberts, testified that Learn’s blood alcohol content material at 9 a.m. was between .078% and .083%, proper across the authorized restrict for intoxication in Massachusetts. Primarily based on a police report that advised her final drink was at 12:45 a.m., her peak blood alcohol degree would have been between .135% and .292%, he mentioned.O’Keefe had been elevating his niece and nephew, and so they instructed jurors that they heard frequent arguments between him and Learn. Each of the youngsters described an incident wherein O’Keefe requested Learn to go away the home and she or he refused.The trial’s first few days detailed the futile efforts of first responders to save lots of O’Keefe. They discovered him face up once they arrived simply earlier than daybreak on Jan. 29. He was pronounced useless on the hospital, and an post-mortem later discovered he died of hypothermia and blunt pressure trauma. A number of of the primary responders mentioned they heard Learn make statements, together with, “I hit him,” after O’Keefe was discovered. Protection attorneys confronted a number of of these witnesses by asking why these alleged remarks weren’t included in official experiences.Officers additionally testified about uncommon procedures used throughout the investigation, together with the choice to gather bloody snow in crimson plastic cups and clearing snow from the crime scene.
A Massachusetts State Police sergeant returned to the stand Thursday within the homicide trial of Karen Learn, the Massachusetts lady accused of hitting John O’Keefe, her boyfriend, with an SUV and leaving him to die in a snowstorm.
Learn, 44, of Mansfield, has pleaded not responsible to second-degree homicide and different fees. The prosecution says she hit O’Keefe together with her black SUV outdoors of a house at 34 Fairview Highway in Canton throughout a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022, following an evening of ingesting. Her protection plans to argue that another person is liable for killing O’Keefe.
Protection lawyer Alan Jackson questioned Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Yuri Bukhenick a few video that reveals Learn’s SUV contained in the storage of the Canton Police Division.
Jackson identified writing on one other car within the storage and on a storage door. Bukhenick mentioned the video was “mirrored,” nevertheless he couldn’t clarify why.
The sergeant defined that what the jurors have been seeing was the motive force’s facet of the automobile, and never the passenger’s facet, which appeared to have a broken taillight in one other video proven to the jury.
“So the video is inverted. Utterly inverted. It is a mirror picture, which means that the motive force facet is the passenger facet and vice versa however the timestamp throughout the underside isn’t inverted, which suggests any individual needed to put that on the inverted, the manipulated, the altered video on objective,” protection lawyer Alan Jackson instructed reporters outdoors the courthouse.
Earlier, Bukhenick testified that investigators recovered a number of items of proof outdoors the house on a number of events within the weeks after O’Keefe’s dying.
The proof included a Boston Police Division hat, a ingesting straw and a number of other chards of glass and items of plastic, which have been revealed after the snow melted. He eliminated the hat and from a brown proof bag and displayed it to the jury.
Assistant District Legal professional Adam Lally performed the audio of an interview that Bukhenick mentioned he performed with Learn on June 9, 2022.
“You are conscious he was overwhelmed up by Brian and Colin Albert? I imply, we’re all in on the identical joke, proper? My tail mild was cracked, and John was pulverized,” Learn mentioned.
Bukhenik mentioned he suggested Learn at that time to cease speaking.
Protection lawyer Alan Jackson questioned Bukhenik in regards to the investigation and why he initially thought O’Keefe’s dying was on account of a “bodily altercation.”
“I communicated our suspicions to the medical expert’s workplace,” Bukhenik testified.
Jackson additionally handed Bukhenik an proof bag containing O’Keefe’s clothes. The label signifies it was Trooper Michael Proctor who positioned the clothes within the baggage.
Bukhenik confirmed the label on the bag reveals the clothes was bagged on Feb 4, 2022, six days after they have been first recovered from O’Keefe when he was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital. Bukheikc mentioned the objects had been within the snow and so they have been “drying throughout that point.”
Jackson additionally questioned Bukhenik about surveillance video that reveals Learn backing her SUV out of O’Keefe’s residence on Jan. 29, 2022.
“It seems that there’s motion” of the rear wheel of O’Keefe’s car as Learn’s SUV backs out, Bukhenik mentioned.
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What to know in regards to the case:
- Karen Learn, 44, of Mansfield, is accused of second-degree homicide and different fees. The prosecution says she hit her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, together with her car outdoors of a house in Canton throughout a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022, following an evening of ingesting. She returned hours later to search out him in a snowbank.
- Learn has pleaded not responsible.
- Learn and her protection group declare she is the sufferer of a cover-up and plan to current a third-party wrongdoer protection. They declare O’Keefe was overwhelmed inside the house, bitten by a canine, after which left outdoors.
- In pretrial motions, prosecutors revealed the existence of textual content messages they mentioned advised a “romantic entanglement” with a buddy who was current at areas Learn and O’Keefe visited on the night time of the incident. Different paperwork have additionally advised hassle within the relationship between Learn and O’Keefe.
- Learn can also be accused of getting frequent contact with a controversial blogger often known as “Turtleboy,” Aiden Kearney, who now faces fees in associated circumstances.
- Opening statements have been delivered on April 29.
- The trial is predicted to final 6-8 weeks.
Case proof slideshow:
Prosecutors try to indicate that Learn’s alleged actions outdoors 34 Fairview Highway have been intentional. Learn’s attorneys have alleged there was a cover-up involving members of a number of legislation enforcement companies. They are saying O’Keefe was overwhelmed by another person inside the house, bitten by a canine after which left outdoors.
The protection, which has been allowed to current what known as third-party wrongdoer proof, argues that investigators targeted on Learn as a result of she was a “handy outsider” who saved them from having to contemplate different suspects. These they’ve implicated embody Brian Albert, who owned the house in Canton the place O’Keefe died, and Brian Higgins, an ATF agent who was there that night time.
Higgins testified a few “romantic” encounter and a collection of textual content messages he exchanged with Learn. In these flirty messages, Learn instructed him that O’Keefe had “connected” with one other lady throughout a trip.
The protection is attempting to persuade the jury that O’Keefe was overwhelmed and advised that Colin Albert, nephew of the household that owned the house on Fairview Highway, had been in a struggle. Albert mentioned a hand damage got here when he fell in a driveway and that he by no means noticed O’Keefe throughout the celebration of his cousin’s birthday on the night time in query.
He additionally confirmed on cross-examination that he has recognized the lead state police investigator on this case, Trooper Michael Proctor, since he was a toddler.
A former Massachusetts police toxicologist, Nicholas Roberts, testified that Learn’s blood alcohol content material at 9 a.m. was between .078% and .083%, proper across the authorized restrict for intoxication in Massachusetts. Primarily based on a police report that advised her final drink was at 12:45 a.m., her peak blood alcohol degree would have been between .135% and .292%, he mentioned.
O’Keefe had been elevating his niece and nephew, and so they instructed jurors that they heard frequent arguments between him and Learn. Each of the youngsters described an incident wherein O’Keefe requested Learn to go away the home and she or he refused.
The trial’s first few days detailed the futile efforts of first responders to save lots of O’Keefe. They discovered him face up once they arrived simply earlier than daybreak on Jan. 29. He was pronounced useless on the hospital, and an post-mortem later discovered he died of hypothermia and blunt pressure trauma.
A number of of the primary responders mentioned they heard Learn make statements, together with, “I hit him,” after O’Keefe was discovered. Protection attorneys confronted a number of of these witnesses by asking why these alleged remarks weren’t included in official experiences.
Officers additionally testified about uncommon procedures used throughout the investigation, together with the choice to gather bloody snow in crimson plastic cups and clearing snow from the crime scene.
