Karen Read Trial Day 23 Recap, Jury Hears Karen "What If I Hit Him" & Crash Expert Destroys Alessi

The Trial Of Karen Read | Justice For John O'Keefe

Tony Brueski

True Crime, News, News Commentary

2.2 • 614 Ratings

🗓️ 29 May 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

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.

#KarenRead #JohnOKeefe #TrueCrime #CrashReconstruction #CourtroomDrama #ExpertWitness #ReverseThrottle #ForensicAnalysis #JusticeForJohn #HiddenKillers

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the Hidden Killers podcast with Tony Bruske and continuing coverage of the case against Karen Reed.
0:07.8	Day 23 of the trial of Karen Reed. And what a day it was. Did we all see the same, the same thing?
0:19.9	I'm kind of wondering when you look online at comments about this day.
0:28.7	Can't say on that surprise, but it is a little stunning, just how dramatic two different worlds seem to be on this case.
0:38.9	It's hard to imagine a more theatrical mic drop in a courtroom than this.
0:44.4	After 23 days, 38 witnesses, and hours upon hours of technical data, forensic breakdowns, and legal fencing.
0:54.1	The prosecution and the Karen Reed trial ended their case,
0:57.3	not with an expert or a detective, or even some flashy visual aid. They ended it with Karen
1:05.4	Reed's own words. Not words paraphrased by someone else, not some dramatized quote, her literal voice,
1:14.2	her face, her admission on video. And we're going to watch that video in just one second.
1:24.6	Before we do, I've got to ask, please hit subscribe wherever you're watching this, wherever you may have downloaded this or I'm talking about podcasts. My mind's going different places because my mind's over here grabbing this video while I'm trying to talk. It's a lot of multitasking and some times my brain just locks up. All right, anyway,
1:46.8	return to press subscribe wherever you are listening to this in the world of podcasts,
1:52.1	Apple, Spotify, wherever it is. Please hit subscribe there. And hey, check out our YouTube channel,
1:57.7	Hidden Killers with Tony Brewski. That's where you're going to find all of our content on video so you can watch it and see even more than what we have on the
2:06.1	podcast channel and vice versa. And in the comments, please, please, please tell me what you're
2:11.7	thinking about this case because it is, yeah, it's continuing to get to get crazier.
2:18.2	Here's the clip that the prosecution closed with today.
2:24.7	Let's take a look at that.
2:27.7	So I thought, could I run over?
2:31.0	Did you try to get these?
2:32.0	I was leaving and I didn't know it.
2:33.7	I mean, who was like the music blasting? It's snowing. I got the wipers going, the heater blasting.
	...

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