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 then again, louder, there was no collision. And again,

there was no collision. Three times he said it, driving at home like a mantra. And very reminiscent of the repeated phrase, I hit him, I hit him, I hit him, I hit him,

that Karen Reid 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.

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