Day 23 of the Karen Read trial may go down as a defining moment. After weeks of forensic testimony, digital data, and a parade of witnesses, the prosecution rested its case—but not before leaving the jury with a gut-punch final act: a 50-second clip of Karen Read herself, captured in 2024, questioning whether she may have accidentally hit Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe. “What if I clipped him in the knee?” she asked, describing a conversation with her lawyer, who allegedly responded, “Then you’d have some culpability.” The courtroom didn’t erupt—but the silence said everything. Jurors reportedly remained fixated on the blank screen long after the video ended.

But that moment wasn’t the only blow to the defense. Before that, defense attorney Robert Alessi attempted a full-scale takedown of the prosecution’s final expert witness, Dr. Judson Welcher, a crash reconstructionist hired by the state. What followed was a long, tense, and ultimately unconvincing cross-examination. Alessi challenged Welcher on the reverse throttle data (74% acceleration, 23.9 mph), questioned the accuracy of surveillance video reconstructions, and grilled him on the origins of glass fragments. Welcher held his ground. Calm, consistent, and data-driven, he even pushed back with a line that will likely echo: “Are you calling pieces of taillight found around the body circumstantial?”

The defense also tried to cast Welcher as a “hired gun,” noting the $369,000 his firm had been paid. But he calmly stated that he began his analysis under the assumption that Read hadn’t hit O’Keefe—and changed his conclusion only when the evidence demanded it.

This video breaks down the 10 most critical moments from the day the prosecution closed strong, the defense stumbled, and the jury was left with Karen Read’s own words ringing in their ears.

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