Karen Read trial live updates: John O’Keefe’s phone could’ve been in house, prosecution expert says
Karen Read 's second trial in connection with the death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, continues on Tuesday in Dedham's Norfolk Superior Court before Judge Beverly Cannone.
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Read more: Recap of trial day 5
Monday concluded with questioning of a pair of crash experts first hired by the federal government. Cross-examination of a prosecution cell phone expert will resume Tuesday morning.
People to know:
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Robert Alessi, lawyer for Read
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Hank Brennan, special prosecutor for the Norfolk County District Attorney's office
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Ian Whiffin, digital forensics examiner at Cellebrite
10:49 a.m. - Cannone calls morning recess
With Whiffin still on the stand, Cannone called for a brief morning recess. Whiffin's testimony should resume after 11 a.m.
10:40 a.m. - Alessi questions Whiffin about battery temperature
Alessi began questioning Whiffin about a series of tests he conducted documenting how an iPhone's battery temperature would drop when placed in cold conditions.
The first test conducted by Whiffin involved putting the phone in a freezer, where the battery temperature dropped about 50 degrees in 15 minutes.
In the second test, Whiffin put the phone outside when the temperature was about 34 degrees Fahrenheit.
During that experiment, the battery temperature dropped 31 degrees in less than 15 minutes.
Whiffin testified on Monday about O'Keefe's battery temperature falling less than 30 degrees over roughly four-and-a-half hours.
"The phone only drops 11 degrees Fahrenheit in 15 minutes, correct?" Alessi asked.
Whiffin said it was. Alessi suggested Whiffin should have tested how a phone battery would react when placed outside at the same temperature as the morning of O'Keefe's death.
But Whiffin defended his testing, saying he didn't know what condition O'Keefe's phone was found in — whether it was in a pocket or in a case or something else. The testing proved that ambient temperature would affect a battery, he said.
Still, Alessi pressed on and asked Whiffin if battery temperature could show location. Whiffin said he struggled to see the connection.
10:08 a.m. - O'Keefe travelled 84 feet around 12:32 a.m.
Alessi's questions moved to Whiffin's conclusion that O'Keefe took 36 steps between 12:31 a.m. and 12:32 a.m. on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022.
In his report, Whiffin wrote that O'Keefe covered a distance of 25.4 meters, or 84 feet.
Alessi handed Whiffin a report written by State Police trooper Nicholas Guarino, a digital forensics expert working in the district attorney's office. Guarino, Alessi said, concluded the distance from the flagpole to the front door at 34 Fairview Road was 72 feet.
"If the distance from the flagpole to the front of the house is 72 feet and you report notes a distance of 84 feet, that would put those steps within the house, correct?" Alessi asked.
Whiffin conceded it would.
9:37 a.m. - O'Keefe's phone could have been in the house
Alessi's cross-examination resumed with a line of questioning about differences between a report Whiffin wrote in March 2025 and a timeline he showed the jury Monday.
Whiffin's report indicates that data pulled from O'Keefe's phone showed he started moving west in the direction of the house. But Whiffin left that data out of his timeline.
"That was kind of important information, wasn't it?" Alessi asked.
Whiffin's report indicates the accuracy of the location data declined around 12:26 a.m. One of the reasons he lists for the declining accuracy is the device could have entered a "building or covered area," which he conceded could have included the home at 34 Fairview Road.
"Therefore, according to your report, the phone of John O'Keefe could be in the house, correct?" Alessi asked.
After a pause, Whiffin said it could, based on the low-accuracy location data from that time.
The defense has said O'Keefe entered the home and was fatally beaten inside.
9:14 a.m. - Court opens for the day
As she does at the beginning of each trial day, Cannone asked jurors if they had been able to follow her instructions about discussing the case and avoiding media coverage. Each juror said they had.
On Monday, the jury heard from Whiffin about a variety of data taken from O'Keefe's cell phone he said showed O'Keefe remained outside throughout the morning of Jan. 29, 2022.
Read, 45, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of O'Keefe, who was found outside the home of a fellow Boston police officer on Jan. 29, 2022.
Norfolk County prosecutors say Read struck O'Keefe with her SUV while driving intoxicated. Read's attorneys say her car never struck O'Keefe and that others are to blame for his death.
Karen Read murder case
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