Read retrial continues after digital forensics testimony

DEDHAM, Mass. (WLNE) — Jurors in the Karen Read murder retrial will hear additional testimony Thursday.

On Wednesday, jurors heard testimony about physical evidence collected from the crime scene and the digital forensics analysis of contested data from the cellphone of Jen McCabe.

McCabe was with Read when Boston police officer John O’Keefe’s body was found.

Read’s lawyers claimed that McCabe searched “how long to die in cold” at 2:27 a.m., hours before John O’Keefe’s body was found.

But phone data analyst Jessica Hyde testified that the search was really done the next morning.

Hyde also said there’s no way that McCabe could have hidden the search.

“My opinion is there was no deletion that occurred by the user because it is not something a user can delete,” said Hyde.

Earlier, jurors saw O’Keefe’s sneaker, as well as fragments of Karen Read’s tail light found at the scene.

The trooper who showed that evidence was also questioned by the defense about what he saw during O’Keefe’s autopsy.

As both the prosecutors and the defense team head into the courtroom for day 12 Thursday morning, supporters of Karen Read will hold what they’re billing as a “standout for justice.”

Supporters will gather at the Norfolk Superior Courthouse, before marching to the post office, and the New Town Common.

It’s not clear if the event will violate Judge Beverly Cannone’s buffer zone, which keeps protesters away by more than a block from the courthouse.