The prosecution in the Karen Read murder trial is set to call their final witness on Tuesday, meaning the defense will likely call its first witnesses this week. But who could they call to testify?
The list of prospective witnesses filed by defense attorney Alan Jackson prior to the start of the trial lists 91 names as prospective witnesses. A new supplemental list of four witnesses was also released Tuesday morning.
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WATCH HEREThe list includes many familiar names from the first trial — members of the Albert and McCabe families, Brian Higgins and Kerry Roberts. Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey is also named, as is former Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor.
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SIGN UP Read is accused of hitting John O'Keefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend, with her SUV in 2022 and leaving him to die alone in the snow outside of a house party at 34 Fairview Road in Canton. Her defense team has said she was a victim of a vast police conspiracy and that O'Keefe was fatally beaten by another law enforcement officer at the party.
A mistrial was declared last year after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
Unlike in the first trial, the prosecution did not call Brian Albert, Higgins or Proctor, the lead investigator on the case who was fired by Massachusetts State Police earlier this year for misconduct related to his highly offensive text messages about Read that were read aloud in court during the first trial.
The defense only called six witnesses during Read's first trial, but they have said they expect to call many more this time around.
Here's the original list of potential defense witnesses:
A supplemental list of witnesses including four new names was also released Tuesday morning. You can see that list here:
Will Read's legal team use 'third-party culprit' defense?
But will they try to use the "third-party culprit" defense as they did during the first trial, arguing that someone other than Read committed the crime?
"What we have to remember about this case is that -- and we've said this before -- it's a reasonable doubt case," said Michael Coyne, NBC10 Boston's chief legal analyst. "The defense does not have to prove who killed John O'Keefe, and it's a mistake to try and say 'It's going to have to be these two or Karen Read.'"
"The thrid party culprit we've talked about. The question now is will they try to expose that as much as they indicated earlier? I'm not sure they will," he added. "It's a bigger burder than they have to assume. Why give the jury an artificial choice in their mind: 'Did Karen Read do it or did those two do it?' And the fact is, if those are the choices, the evidence tips so much in favor that Karen Read somehow contributed to John O'Keefe's death."
