
Karen Read's dog bite expert looks to chew up car crash theory
incoming update…
Karen Read's
defense team is vying to chew up the prosecution's allegation that she fatally struck her former boyfriend, John O'Keefe, with a Lexus SUV and left him to die in a blizzard in January 2022.
Dr. Marie Russell, a Los Angeles-based doctor who believes the injuries on O'Keefe's right arm came from a dog and not the rear end of Read's vehicle, returns to the witness stand for a second day of testimony Tuesday.
Not only did she assert that scratches up and down his arm came from a dog's teeth or claws, she also said that holes found in O'Keefe's clothing were consistent with canine teeth.
Russell is a forensic pathologist and former emergency room doctor.
Injuries to the outside of a person's arm often indicate that the victim raised their arms defensively, she testified.
Dr. Judson Welcher, an expert on crash reconstruction for the prosecution, showed jurors a video last week using blue paint to illustrate where a Lexus taillight would come in contact with the arm of someone roughly O'Keefe's size.
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AP 'I'd never seen something like that before; a boyfriend do [that] to a girlfriend in public,' she said. 'Never saw that, so it just stood out to me. I was like, 'Wow, that's the sweetest thing I've ever seen.'' That nugget could also boost the defense, Bederow said, after Read's team introduced evidence that ATF Agent Brian Higgins, another man at the bar that night, was exchanging flirtatious text messages with their client behind her boyfriend's back. 'Kolokithas' description of John being affectionate with Karen right in front of Higgins minutes before Higgins seemingly was agitated towards John and had to be calmed down by Chris Albert, around the time Jen McCabe oddly told Karen she was leaving with her, was also helpful to the defense,' he said. Surveillance video appeared to show Higgins and O'Keefe gesturing at one another from across the room shortly before the group left and headed to Brian Albert's house at 34 Fairview Road. There is no audio, and Kolokithas did not testify about an argument between the men. However, Chris Albert, Brian's brother, can be seen pushing Higgins' arms down during the exchange.