A forensic expert first focused on two pieces of evidence Karen Reed murder trial – the autopsy and the way the victim’s clothing was handled – and he said he believed the medical examiner’s testimony would be important.
Reading allegedly hit her boyfriendBoston police officer John O’Keefe left her to die in the snow with his car, prosecutors said. Reed denied the allegations and claimed there was a cover-up to implicate him.
O’Keefe’s official cause of death is listed as “undetermined”, which the medical examiner lists as “big star”. testsforensic expert John Scott Morgan told Fox News Digital.
Morgan said, “I urge everyone following this case to pay close attention to what the medical examiner says, because they will be asked to explain the reasoning behind listing it as indeterminate ” “I would hope that the defense would focus specifically on that question, and frame it in such a way that they would say, ‘Well, you know, we have the prosecutor saying that this is actually , a murder. What’s this, doctor, what’s stopping you from treating it as a murder?”
Karen Reed sits in court during jury selection at Norfolk County Superior Court on April 17, 2024 in Dedham, Mass. (David McGlynn/New York Post via AP, Pool)
The case is for the Boston suburbs by 2022 Canton, Massachusetts, where O’Keefe was found dead. According to court documents, both O’Keefe and Reed were intoxicated that night.
The trial began with jury selection last week after nearly two years of divisive rhetoric from both sides and controversy over the federal investigation. concealment of defense Blame.
On Wednesday, a full jury was selected from among hundreds of potential jurors, setting the stage for what is expected to be a long and tense trial. Reed’s supporters and opponents clash outside the courthouse.
On Thursday, several pre-trial motions are expected to be resolved, and opening statements are scheduled to begin on Monday.
Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe (BPD)
Karen Reed departs Norfolk Superior Court after a day of jury selection in Dedham, Mass., on April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Steven Sene)
O’Keefe suffered multiple injuries, including a skull fracture caused by blunt-force trauma, which caused bleeding in the brain, a swollen black eye, and numerous bruises and scratches on his right arm and hands.
The prosecution alleges the injuries were caused when Reed hit her with his car, while the defense says the injuries were caused during a fight inside the house and a dog attack.
“It’s very specific information,” said Morgan, who spent more than 20 years with the New Orleans coroner’s office and the Fulton County medical examiner in Atlanta before becoming a professor at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama.
The main thing is that this information about a possible dog bite was given to the medical examiner.
Morgan said, if the medical examiner did not know about dog bite protection during the autopsy, the examiner likely would not have attempted to obtain evidence, such as dog hair or saliva swabs, to investigate whether the dog had bitten. Had DNA.
Karen Reed appeared in Norfolk County Superior Court for a pre-trial hearing. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
WATCH: Morgan previews possible arguments for O’Keefe’s injuries
‘Here’s one issue that’s particularly troubling me’
Morgan said how O’Keefe’s clothes were removed during life-saving efforts, how they were preserved and the chain of custody “are very important here.”
He said, if reports of clothes being piled in the corner of the trauma room are true, then potential evidence has been compromised.
“Are we talking about hours? Days? Weeks? Because the longer you wait to deposit it, the less secure it is,” Morgan said, “and if you don’t account for it 24/7.” If you can, you ruin the chain of custody.” And, at that point, there is little or no accountability. You do not know who has come in contact with these items.
“It can be very delicate. And once you as a forensic investigator have that evidence, you need to know how it was packed and who packed it.”
Karen A., 42, the girlfriend of late Boston police officer John O’Keefe. Reed was tried in Norfolk Superior Court on charges of second-degree murder in her death in Dedham, Massachusetts on June 10, 2022. The couple was presented together by the defense before the prosecution. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Karen Reed and her attorney Alan Jackson walk through a crowd of supporters outside Norfolk Superior Court on April 16, 2024 in Dedham, Massachusetts. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger)
He cited the example of the OJ Simpson murder trial, which involved over 100 exhibits of DNA evidence, which his lawyers essentially discredited by arguing that investigators had made improper use of evidence in the removal, collection, handling and processing of evidence, including blood-stained clothing. I had messed up.
“Remember the OJ Simpson case, where one of the detectives was noted to be driving around with blood samples in his car before they were presented as evidence,” Morgan said. “All kinds of things can happen, especially with this kind of blood evidence, because it’s delicate.”
Read the arrest and how a blogger added fuel to the fire
Reed was arrested on February 2, 2022, and charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene of an accident causing injury and death. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
“I didn’t kill John O’Keefe. I didn’t harm a hair on John O’Keefe’s head,” Reed told ABC News in August.
Massachusetts professor accused in policeman’s lover’s murder calls it a ‘cover-up’
The case divided the otherwise quiet suburban town, and a local blogger, Aiden Kearney, who goes by the nickname “Turtleboy”, instigated the “Free Karen” side of the debate.
He is often seen leading demonstrations and trumpeting reeds with cellphone cameras and bullhorns Law enforcement Cover-up defense.
Massachusetts blogger “Turtleboy” Aiden Kearney was charged with allegedly intimidating witnesses in a murder case in Massachusetts. (Aidan Kearney (@DoctorTurleboy)/X)
The Norfolk County District Attorney’s office alleged he crossed a line by intimidating witnesses, and he was arrested in October, angering his loyal followers.
The prosecutor alleged that Kearney “showed up” to witnesses’ children’s sporting events and “made scenes”, harassed witnesses and took photographs at their homes and jobs, and instructed followers of his blog to do the same.
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Kearney’s attorney told the judge that while Kearney had pleaded not guilty, his client “vehemently denies” the allegations and said his client’s opinion was reserved. first Amendment,
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Kearney was charged with more than a dozen felonies related to witness intimidation. He also served 60 days in jail for violating a protective order, but has since been released and is awaiting trial.
“The media, the influence of social media, the sidebar with the Turtle blogger. All the information coming and going from the DA’s office and the defense team. I think it’s going to take a long road to pick an impartial jury.” Suffolk University law professor Christopher Dearborn told CBS News.
fox news digital mitch picasso Contributed to this report.
