BOSTON (AP) – The long-awaited trial begins this week in Massachusetts for a woman accused of hitting her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV and leaving him for dead in a snowbank.
John O'Keeffe passed away on January 29, 2022 in Canton, a suburb of Boston.
The case has received national attention because the defense contends that state and local law enforcement officials framed Karen Reed and allowed the real culprit to go free.
Let's look at the facts and legal arguments.
Accusation: A rocky relationship turns deadly.
Karen Reed, 44, of Mansfield, Massachusetts; charged with several crimesThe charges include second-degree murder in the death of John O'Keefe, 46. The 16-year police veteran was found unresponsive outside a fellow police officer's home in Boston.
After a night of drinking at several bars, Reed dropped O'Keefe off at a house party after midnight, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said she hit O'Keefe as she made her three-point turn and then drove away. When she returned a few hours later, he was in the snowbank.
Prosecutors are trying to prove that Mr. Reed's actions were intentional. To that end, Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally presented evidence showing the couple's turbulent relationship began to “deteriorate” in the month before O'Keefe's death. O'Keeffe's brother Paul, the prosecution's first witness, said the couple regularly argued over things such as what Reed had given O'Keeffe's two adopted children, and in 2021 on Cape Cod over O'Keeffe's treatment. He testified that he witnessed the couple fighting. she.
Paul O'Keefe's wife, Erin, testified that Reed told her the couple had a fight in Aruba after he witnessed O'Keefe kissing another woman.
Defense: Police have framed the suspect.
Defense attorneys said in opening statements that the investigation into O'Keefe's death was shoddy and marred by the close relationships between investigators and police and other law enforcement officials at the house party.
They argued that investigators focused on Reed because she was a “convenient outsider” and did not need to consider other suspects. They plan to argue that someone other than Mr. Reed was responsible for Mr. O'Keefe's death, floating the theory that Mr. O'Keeffe was beaten inside the home and left for dead outside.
The defense also criticized investigators for failing to search the house where the party was being held to see if there had been a fight. They claim O'Keefe's injuries are consistent with being punched.
On Friday, defense attorney Alan Jackson tried to show a connection between first responders at the scene and the owner of the home where O'Keefe died. Ms Jackson repeatedly questioned Katie McLaughlin, a firefighter who responded to the scene, about Mr O'Keefe's relationship with Caitlin Albert, where the family lived at the time of his death.
McLaughlin confirmed that she and Caitlin Albert went to high school together, were friends on social media, and were photographed together at a local beach. But she claimed they were just acquaintances and that she didn't know it was Albert's house when she answered the phone. She also said she hadn't spoken to Albert in several years.
Scene: Screaming and distraught reading in a blizzard.
Prosecutors appeared to rely on Mr. Reed's testimony from early on. words to gain confidence. Most of the first week was occupied by first responders detailing the harrowing scene of that January morning in 2022.
They found O'Keefe lying on his back, distraught and screaming near the body, and appeared to have blood from his mouth from administering CPR.
The most incriminating testimony this week came from several first responders who recalled Reed saying loudly and repeatedly that he “hit him,” although he never said it was his SUV. It was from people.
Another witness, the first police officer on the scene, testified that Ms. Reed blamed herself for O'Keefe's death, but would not say how she took responsibility.
Evidence: Are there any contradictions?
The defense has sought to undermine the credibility of first responders who testified for the prosecution. They pointed to errors in police dispatch records, including the wrong address where O'Keefe's body was found.
They also had witnesses who testified that they heard Reed say that O'Keefe's death was her fault. He admitted that he did not write that in the police report. Another witness suggested that she may have been too focused on saving O'Keefe's life to hear that Reed had punched her. And she showed video from the scene suggesting that one of her first responders, who she claims told her Reed had punched O'Keefe, didn't even speak to her.
Additionally, they tried to sow doubt in jurors' minds about the entire investigation, with several saying they never saw Reed hit O'Keefe or that they saw dozens of broken taillight pieces at the scene. Evidence that prosecutors allege was that a witness said she returned to him.
Mr. Jackson also sparred with Mr. McLaughlin on Friday about her “evolving testimony,” which suggests she has changed her testimony over time. On Thursday, Ms. McLaughlin said Mr. Reed repeatedly told her that he had punched O'Keefe. But on Friday, Jackson said she told state police the day after O'Keefe's death that Reed had made those comments to another woman who was at the scene. McLaughlin initially disputed that her testimony was “fairly consistent,” but she later acknowledged that her testimony had changed.
Victim: When and how did you die?
The first days of the trial detailed the futile efforts of first responders to save O'Keefe. When he arrived before dawn on January 29, he was found with his head up.
One witness said O'Keefe was not breathing and had no pulse. Another man said his body temperature was only 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.6 degrees Celsius), indicating severe hypothermia.
Despite the efforts of emergency personnel to rescue O'Keefe, his condition never changed. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. An autopsy determined he died of hypothermia and blunt force trauma.