← Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
VERDICT WATCH | Karen Read Trial Heads to The Jury After Explosive Closing Arguments
00:29:09
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- [00:00]
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- [01:06]
Ashley Banfield
Hi everybody. Welcome back to Drop Dead Serious. I'm Ashley Banfield. It was day 33 of the Karen Reed trial today, and you could feel it in the air. After months of twists and turns and taillights and testimony, it all came down to this. Judge Beverly Canoni addressed the jury one final time before closing arguments began, reminding them that what they were about to hear was not evidence, but just arguments. Each side was given 75 minutes to make their case and it was the defense team who got to go first. That is not always the norm, but that's how it's done in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Typically, if you watch a trial, then why is that? Because they've got the burden of proof. But in Massachusetts, start with the defense, end with the prosecution, and that's that. So Karen's lawyer, Alan Jackson, walked right up to the jury box and wasted no time. He said, quote, there was no collision. And then again, louder, there was no collision. And again, there was no collision. Three times he said it, driving it home like a mantra and very reminiscent of the repeated phrase, I hit him, I hit him, I hit him. That Karen Reed said after John o' Keefe was found lying in the snow. According to some witnesses, Jackson told the jury that from the very beginning this case has been corrupted, that investigators tried to bury the truth and that some police officers went to astonishing lengths to protect their own. And at the center of it all was Karen Reed. He reminded jurors of their responsibility not just to deliberate, but to uphold a burden that is higher than most people realize. Reasonable doubt. Reasonable. Jackson then turned to the timeline and to a face that's become central to the defense theory. A cop named Brian Higgins. Jackson played bar surveillance footage from the night before John o' Keefe was found frozen in the snow, showing Brian Higgins at a Canton bar just before the group headed to 34 Fairview Road. Quote, look at him, Jackson told the jury, pointing out how Higgins appeared locked in on John o' Keefe, even gesturing like he wanted to fight him outside. But investigators, Jackson said, ignored that. The video was brushed aside. Higgins was never questioned. And then came the questions that have haunted this trial from the beginning. Quote, what happened inside that house at 34 Fairview Road? Quote, what happened in that basement, in that garage? End quote. Jackson said that investigators overlooked crucial details, like the German shepherd named Chloe that lived at 34 Fairview, the wounds on John's arm, wounds that, according to the defense, are dog bites, John's black eyes, and a cut on his eye. This was all evidence, Jackson said, that was hiding in plain sight and purposefully ignored. Jackson kept going, painting a picture of what he called Karen Reed's worst nightmare. He told the jury that Karen isn't the killer, that she was the one who found John o' Keefe beaten, battered and bloody, lying in the snow on Brian Albert's front lawn. And what happened next, after John was found in the snow, Jackson said, should have raised every alarm because Brian Albert, a trained police officer and first responder, never stepped foot outside of that house. All this business is going on on his lawn. Never comes outside, not during the chaos, not even while John lay dying just feet from his front door. And the lead investigator, Michael Proctor, he never even stepped inside that house. A house where a drunken party had just taken place the night before. So let me get this straight. A drunken party happens, A guy is dead on the front lawn, Nobody knocks on the door to say, hey, what happened here last night? Right? Seems a bit weird, doesn't it? Yeah. Well, Jackson asked, quote, why is that? Asked the jury, why didn't they look? And then he hammered the point again. Quote, they cannot and they will not ever be able to prove that John was. Was struck by a vehicle. He said, quote, their investigation was flawed from the start because their investigator was corrupted from the start. Jackson said, quote, no collision, no evidence of a collision, no case. And then he turned to the state's own words and used their words against them. Quote, if there was no collision, what are we doing here? End quote. He called the prosecution's case cooked. He said that even their own expert admitted there was no proof of impact. He told the jury, quote, you'd expect fractures, road rash, trauma. But John o' Keefe. John didn't even have a bruise. John's arm was pristine, he said, except for those dog and claw bites. He told the jurors to picture those X rays as they deliberate the clean, unbroken bones, the absence of any trauma that you would expect from a high speed impact. So how, he asked, does the prosecution explain that? He accused the Commonwealth of trying to distract spending nearly $400,000 of taxpayer money to pay an expert to, quote, dress up like John o' Keefe and do a reenactment with a painted dummy, a simulation that, in Jackson's words, quote, told you exactly nothing. And then he pressed even harder, quote. Why is there no blood, no skin, not a single trace of John o' Keefe on any of those tail light shards. Quote, because it didn't happen, end quote. And then he delivered what he called the cardinal sin of testimony. Changing your story to fit a theory. That's what he said. The digital forensics analysis named Shannon Burgess did, rewriting the timeline in real time to save the prosecution's case. Jackson reminded the jurors that the state has had three and a half years to get this right and that they still couldn't do it. He pointed to their own timeline, the one that says John was hit at exactly 12:31 the 38am Jackson asked, quote, but how was John still using his phone after that timestamp? He said that's what their own data showed and it devastated their case. He claimed that at the moment in the trial, the prosecution must have panicked and called in Shannon Burgess, the Aperture employee. Jackson argued, quote, unquote, he came up with a brand new story right in the middle of the trial. So ask yourself, can you believe Mr. Burgess? End quote. Jackson circled back to the evidence that's become a cornerstone in the defense's case. The wounds on John o' Keefe's arm. Quote, just look at John's arm, He said, you don't need the top experts in the country. These are dog bites. These are scratches. These are animal wounds, end quote. Jackson reminded the jury that not one witness, not a single expert had ruled out the possibility that those injuries came from a dog. Quote, the Commonwealth hasn't met their burden. He said, they can't meet their burden, end quote. And then he declared it flat out. Those wounds on his right arm, they're from a dog. Jackson said, no matter how big a check you write, there's not a medical expert out there who's going to disagree with that. Then Jackson turned the focus to the man whose name had echoed throughout this courtroom for weeks, disgraced former state trooper Michael Proctor. Jackson laid it bare. He told the jury that the police didn't treat the house at 34 Fairview as a crime scene, that they didn't treat the yard as a crime scene, that they didn't even retrieve the ring camera footage from across the street at 34 Fairview. And the man at the center of this policing was Michael Proctor, who didn't just insult Karen Reed, Jackson said, he dehumanized Karen Reed. Quote, this is the man who called her a whack job. C U N T who mocked her body, her accent, her illness. And this is the man who touched every single piece of important evidence in this case. The taillight shards, the bloody shirts, the DNA samples, quote, all of it was in Proctor's hands, end quote. And then came the haymaker. Quote, he was fired for his blatant bias. Jackson said. If the Massachusetts State Police can't trust him, how can you trust him with this investigation, with your verdict, with Karen Reed's life? And where was he? Why didn't the Commonwealth put him on the stand? Wouldn't you want to hear from him? Don't you have questions, end quote? He told the jury exactly why he thought so. Quote, michael Proctor's radioactive. That's why he wasn't here, end quote.
- [11:17]
Alan Jackson
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- [11:46]
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- [12:15]
Ashley Banfield
Go to Wix.com and Jackson wasn't done. He turned to one of the prosecution's central claims, that Karen Reed was drunk behind the wheel when John o' Keefe was allegedly struck. Quote, they have failed to prove that Jackson said, quote, she wasn't drunk. She wasn't slurring her words. She wasn't Stumbling and quoting, quote, he told the jury that Karen was driving lawfully under the speed limit, slowing around corners. And witnesses backed that up. Then he pivoted to the house, the now infamous house. 3034 Fairview Road. Quote, no one searched that home for signs of a struggle. Jackson said, not once. And then he dropped this. What if it wasn't the home of a Boston cop? We can be certain investigators would have torn that house apart looking for answers about why a fellow officer was lying dead in the front lawn. But because this was Brian Albert's house, a fellow cop, an insider, they didn't even open the door. That's not justice, that's pure favoritism. End quote. And then, his voice rising, he stared down the prosecutor's table. He said, quote, how dare they? How dare they come in here and ask you for a verdict when they didn't even investigate this case fully? End quote. And then he turned back to Karen Reed's words, the ones that she spoke in the early morning chaos. When John's body was discovered, she asked, did I hit him? Could I have hit him? Jackson didn't shy away from those words, but he reframed them. Not as a confession, but as a moment of human confusion. And the science, Jackson said, it was clear. Quote, no, she couldn't have hit him. End quote. Then came Brian Higgins again, the lawman that Karen had been flirting with, even though she was still dating the cop who died, John o' Keefe. Jackson reminded the jurors that Higgins made a late night visit to the Canton Police Department at 1:30 in the morning while drunk. He asked the jury, quote, what was so important that he had to go there at 1:30am and yet Michael Proctor never gave him a second look. Then he made it plain. Quote, if you have any questions about Brian Higgins, Jackson told the jury, that is reasonable doubt. End quote. And then Jackson zeroed in on a piece of physical evidence the prosecution had leaned on for weeks. The taillight. Yes, Karen Reed's tail light was cracked. But Jackson told the jury to take a closer look. When the SUV was seized in Dighton, the damage was partial, a crack, not a full break. But by the time it showed up at the Canton Police Department, something had changed. Jackson reminded the jury 42 minutes of surveillance video from the police department. Sally Port were just gone. They were missing. They just vanished. So how did the taillight get cracked? Jackson told the jury, quote, you don't have to guess. There's a video. And then he played the ring footage that showed Reed's SUV gently tapping John o' Keefe's parked car. And John's car actually moving slightly with that kinetic energy. Karen's vehicle nudged John's vehicle as she backed up in the driveway. And it's clear as a bell on camera, quote, that is how it got cracked, Jackson said, and now you have a front row seat to police corruption, end quote. As he neared the end of his closing argument, Jackson called out what he said was one of the most egregious moments in the entire trial. He pointed to the prosecution's handling of John o' Keefe's sweatshirt and the way they presented multiple holes in the fabric to the jury. He said, quote, it was clear they wanted you to believe those holes were from the night John died. But that, he said, was a lie. The truth, Jackson told the jury, quote, is that the Commonwealth created those holes. They weren't from road rash, they weren't from a fall, they weren't made on January 29th. They were cuttings from the state's own crime lab. That's what those holes are. And what made it worse, Jackson said, quote, all three prosecutors were in the room when that testimony was given. And it took the defense to correct the record to bring you the truth. If we hadn't done that, what impression would you have been left with? That is more than negligence, Jackson said, quote, that is dangerous. End quote. He told the jury not to expect much from Brennan about the sweatshirt in the Commonwealth's closing quote. And why not? Jackson asked. Because it's shameful. End quote. He said he told the jurors to demand the truth and then he gave them the reason for the prosecution's so called stunt, quote, desperation. Because they know that you now know what their own experts know. There was no collision. End quote. And after 75 minutes of hammering at every flaw, every missing file, every unanswered question, Alan Jackson closed with these final words, quote, karen Reed is not guilty. Do not let them get away with this. Don't. Do not let Michael Proctor get away with this. He wanted to. He warned the jury, if you convict Karen Reed of anything, anything, science loses, physics loses, the data loses, and Michael Proctor wins. And finally he said, quote, find Karen Reed not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, end quote. And this is where I give you a side note about Alan Jackson. If I am so much as up for a traffic ticket, I'm calling Alan Jackson because this guy is the shit. He is so good at his job. And if you don't know the background about Alan Jackson, Allen, like 15 some odd years ago was the hotshot prosecutor in Los Angeles who prosecuted Phil Spector. And for you young ones out there, Phil Spector was a music mogul, a brilliant music producer famous for what became known as the wall of sound, producing the kinds of sounds in the 60s and 70s that made music what it is today. Phil Spector was huge and up for killing his girlfriend by shooting her through the back of the throat after a date that wasn't so good. Alan Jackson popped on that case. And I remember thinking back then, wow. So now here. Here he is, a hotshot defense attorney willing to travel because he traveled to Karen Reed's case. He's been hotelling it trying to trial number one and trial number two. So, yeah, full endorsement. Call Alan. He's good at this. You know, full disclosure, I kind of know I'm not well, but I have interviewed him before when I was at Court tv. I've spoken with him on the phone, we've texted before. I've communicated him electronically. But he. I just think he's one of those guys that really, really knows how to litigate. So big shoes to fill when Alan Jackson steps down. And then it was the commonwealth's turn. And, man, I wouldn't want to follow that act. But special prosecutor Hank Brennan stood before the jury and began not with the evidence, but with John o' Keefe, the man at the center of it all. He was a good man, Brennan said, a father figure to his niece and nephew who he was raising. The kind of person who helped anyone anytime. But on January 29, 2022, John O' Keefe needed help. And instead, Brennan said, Karen Reed made a choice. Quote, she didn't call 91 1. She didn't run to him. She didn't knock on a door. She was drunk and she hit him and she left him to die. End quote. He said it again, louder this time. She was drunk, she hit him, and she left him to die. Brennan told the jury that Karen Reed had been drinking all. All night at bars, all around Canton, and that when her blood was drawn later, it showed that she was two to three times over the legal limit. And how do they know she hit him? Because Brennan said John o' Keefe never moved again. His phone battery, his biometric health data, the debris in the snow, even the hair and DNA they found. Brennan said it all told the the same story. And then Brennan turned to what he called the real story behind that night. A relationship unraveling. He told the jury that Karen wasn't just drunk, she was spiraling. But the Tragedy, he argued, was set in motion long before then, back when Karen Reed and John o' Keefe were already in a toxic, crumbling relationship. Then Brennan turned the jury's attention to Karen Reed herself. He played video clips from her past televised interviews, including one where she downplays how much alcohol she'd consumed that night, claiming the drinks at the Canton bars were, quote, weak. But Brennan said otherwise, that alcohol was fuel that ignited already existing tensions between Reed and o' Keefe. And then Brennan brought it back to the final moment, the turning point. He said that changed everything. Quote, we don't need to know every second, he told the jury, because we know what matters. He said John o' Keefe got out of the car and walked back towards the flagpole. Karen Reed drove away. But then, Brennan said she made a decision. He told the jury, quote, she could have gone home, she could have broken up with him. They could have talked about it the next day. But she didn't. She didn't drive away. She took her 6,000 pound Lexus, slammed into reverse and hit the gas. Brennan said if the jurors believe Karen Reed intended to hit the accelerator to put the car in reverse, then he told them she's guilty of second degree murder. He reminded the jury what Karen Reed left behind. Not just John o' Keeffe's body in the yard, but pieces of her suv. And on the drive home, quote, she was still angry. Brennan said, quote, she didn't dial 91 1. She didn't call a hospital, she didn't call Jen McCabe. Instead, 53 phone calls, he told the jury, quote, 53. All of them to him, quote, not one to get help, not one to save his life. He told the jury that John o' Keefe never went inside that house, not once, quote, he was outside all night, Brennan said, and the debris field proves it. The tail light fragments the impact zone. According to Brennan, quote, there's been no testimony from anyone saying what time he went in or when he came out, because he never did, end quote. Brennan then focused on the moment Karen Reed found out. The moment he said what, when the reality of what she'd done hit her. He defended Jen McCabe, the woman who called 911 that night, quote, she wasn't hiding, she wasn't covering anything up. Brennan said she was trying to help, like everyone else who showed up that morning. And Karen Reed knew, quote, she had to face what she did. He told the jury, quote, that's why her emotions were overwhelming, because in that moment, Brennan said Karen Reed said the Words out loud. I hit him. I hit him, I hit him, end quote. And then he played another interview clip, one where Karen Reed herself admitted to saying it, but questioned the number of times, quote, I know I said I hit him, but did I really say it that many times? End quote. Brennan turned to the jury and told them, quote, the truth has a way of rising. Brennan then returned to the other name that has loomed large over this trial, Michael Proctor. Yes, Brennan admitted the text messages were indefensible. Yes, they were distasteful and, quote, dishonorable. But no, they don't change the facts. He told the jury that Proctor had been held accountable, as he should have been, but insisted that none of it altered the science, the forensics, or the physical evidence. He said the defense was trying to give Karen Reed a free pass by blaming the system, by inventing a dog, and by suggesting that someone inside the house was responsible instead. But he insisted there wasn't a single piece of evidence that was planted or tampered with or distorted. As for the Commonwealth's decision not to call Michael Proctor to the stand, Brennan said, quote, we don't need Trooper Proctor to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt, end quote. Brennan then circled back to the evidence and the witnesses. He called out the defense's repeated mantra, there was no collision. But Brennan pushed back hard. He reminded jurors that the medical examiner, Dr. Irini Scordibello, never ruled out a vehicle strike. And then he cast doubt on the defense's expert, Dr. Andrew Rentschler, calling him not objective and pointing out his lunch with Reid's legal team during the first trial. But the Commonwealth, he said, doesn't shift or rely on spin. Quote, what we have is a timeline that never moves, data that never changes, physical evidence that doesn't just appear. It can't be where it is without a collision, end quote. Then Brennan made it as clear and as blunt as possible. Quote, she got drunk, she hit him, she left him to die. It's that simple. There's no doubt what happened that night, he said, and there's no doubt who did it. Then Brennan closed. John o' Keefe is not a body. He's not a buffalo on a prairie, end quote. And that was a reference to one of Karen Reid's past interviews and a moment Brennan clearly wanted the jury to remember. Quote, john o' Keefe was a person, he said, and he was murdered by Karen Reed. And I should remind you that Hank Brennan isn't just a prosecutor. Hank Brennan was a kick ass defense attorney, too. And if you don't know this, one of his clients was Whitey Bulger, famous mobster. So Hank Brennan is not a slouch. You know, he knows what he's doing in this courtroom. And this is where it's so hard to be a juror. It's just a moment. That stinks. Because when you've just gone through two summations on opposite ends of the spectrum, you're left thinking, what the hell? What am I supposed to believe? They both sound so compelling. Typically, you know, you take weeks and weeks of testimony that, you know, you've almost forgotten by this point, and then these, you know, lawyers come at you with a bedtime story, and both bedtime stories sound believable, and then it's just left to you to figure it out, right? Commonwealth gets the last word, so that sticks with you. Last. Right. They've got the burden, so that's fair. But it is a shitty, shitty thing to be a juror. And at this moment, because you are left kind of bewildered and perplexed, what am I supposed to think now? They. I love them both. You know, they don't always love both sides, but generally speaking, when you have two hotshot lawyers like these guys, this is hard. And so, after final instructions from Judge Kanoni and a quick sidebar to select the alternates, the 12 seated jurors were told to retire and begin deliberations. And once they were behind closed doors, the verdict watch began. But. But. But. Just before the lawyers and the judge wrapped up, the defense raised one last objection, this time to the verdict slips themselves. Deja vu, as in, are you effing kidding me? I don't know if you remember this, but the last mistrial was because of the verdict slips. They were confusing. They didn't mark them the right way. We actually didn't need to have maybe this entire retrial because according to the defense, she'd already been, you know, adjudicated on these charges. But those slips, those jury slips. So here we are again with jury slip issues. Karen's lawyer, David Yannetti, argued that the slips were stacked with seven different options for guilty and only one for not guilty, saying that this was too confusing. In case you're wondering, kind of the same argument from trial number one. I get it. I'd be pissed. Judge Kanoni pushed back, saying that she hasn't found any precedent to change the slips. Hello. I see it. Anyway, I'm just a. You know, I'm just a slouch. But Yannetti couldn't cite one either. Which is odd. But for now the slips are going to stay the same. And the objection stands quietly Noted. May be preserved for yet another appeal. I don't know. In the end jury, they were at it for only two hours deliberating today before packing it up and leaving for the weekend. But they'll be back on Monday for more deliberations and they've got the weekend to sleep on it. I'm Ashley Banfield. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, the truth isn't just serious, it's drop dead serious.