'Cannon' test boosts Karen Read's defense, showing taillight damage consistent with thrown bar glass
It was the 28th day of her retrial on murder and other charges in the death of her former boyfriend, a 46-year-old Boston police officer named John O'Keefe.
Wolfe is the director of accident reconstruction at a firm called ARCCA.
On the witness stand Friday, he said ARCCA designed a specialized "cannon" to simulate throwing a cocktail glass at Read's taillight and determined that similar damage could have been caused if someone threw the glass at around 31 mph and 37 mph.
"From the 37 mile per hour test, we are getting damage that's generally consistent, and by that I mentioned we have portions of the outer lens missing, the underlying diffuser," he said.
"There was also some fracturing on the backside of the assembly. So again we observed damage that was generally consistent with that of the subject taillight."
Wolfe said he gave an opinion that the damage Read's SUV was generally consistent with someone throwing that drinking glass at at least 37 mph.
In another ARCCA test, the reconstructionists wanted to see if an impact between the taillight and the back of O'Keefe's head could've caused his skull fracture.
Wolfe said he tested at 15 mph. Damage to the test taillight was significantly more than Read's taillight at that speed – but it didn't generate enough force to cause a skull fracture.
Prosecutors accused Read, 45, of hitting O'Keefe with her 2021 Lexus SUV and driving away as he died on the ground with a skull fracture during a blizzard.
The defense denies that she struck him and has called witnesses who have attributed his injuries to other causes, including a dog bite and a potential fistfight with a man Read was flirting with behind his back.
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Special prosecutor Hank Brennan unsuccessfully tried to have Wolfe and a colleague, Dr. Andrew Renstchler, blocked from testifying before the start of the trial.
Wolfe testified during the first trial, which ended with a deadlocked jury, that damage to Read's SUV is inconsistent with a collision involving O'Keefe.
Read told reporters outside court Wednesday that her defense could rest as soon as next Tuesday. There was no court on Thursday.
She could face up to life in prison if convicted. Her first trial, in which the defense claimed she had been framed, ended with a deadlocked jury last year.
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