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Credibility of key skilled below scrutiny

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Credibility of key skilled below scrutiny

Credibility of key skilled below scrutiny

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Questions on a key skilled’s status and credibility took middle stage at Karen Learn’s second homicide trial, because the Massachusetts’ lady’s protection workforce continued to forged doubt on the integrity of the case.

Prosecutors say Learn, 45, struck John O’Keefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend, along with her Lexus SUV after an evening of heavy ingesting and left him to die throughout an enormous snowstorm in January 2022. Her legal professionals say she was framed for the dying in an elaborate conspiracy contrived by Massachusetts cops.

Testimony from Shanon Burgess, a digital forensics skilled, is believed to be vital to prosecutors case. He took the stand on Might 20 for a second day to debate how he reconciled discrepancies between information present in Learn’s SUV and O’Keefe’s iPhone.

Utilizing clock information from each sources, Burgess created a timeline for the evening O’Keefe died that probably ties Learn to the crime. In audio clips from interviews chosen by prosecutors, Learn appeared to again up that timeline.

But it surely was Burgess’ instructional historical past, greater than his evaluation within the case, that took a lot of the highlight on Day 19 of the trial. Learn’s protection workforce grilled Burgess’ about his tutorial background and accused him of misrepresenting his faculty diploma achievements. By a litany of questions, in addition they tried to sow considerations concerning the accuracy and reliability of his report in Learn’s case.

Burgess’ testimony comes 5 weeks into Learn’s trial, during which her protection legal professionals have sought to painting the investigation into O’Keefe’s dying as riddled with bias, incompetence and deceit.

Learn’s first trial resulted in a hung jury in 2024. The whodunnit authorized saga has for years fixated true-crime followers throughout the nation, spurring an array of podcasts, motion pictures and tv reveals.

Here is what you missed from Day 19 of the trial.

Christina Hanley, a forensic scientist on the Massachusetts State Crime Lab, testified briefly concerning the items of proof she analyzed from the crime scene, together with a transparent glass cup, items of glass discovered on Learn’s SUV and glass and plastic discovered exterior the house at 34 Fairview Rd., the place O’Keefe’s physique was found.

Hanley defined her course of for labeling and analyzing the items. Choose Beverly Cannone known as the protection and prosecution for a sidebar and proceedings ended for the day.

When did John O’Keefe die?

Prosecutors performed three clips for the jury from interviews with Learn during which she mentioned the timeframe after they say she killed O’Keefe.

Within the first clip, Learn talked about making a three-point-turn after lacking the flip onto Fairview Street slightly after 12:20 a.m. Within the second, she stated you may “clearly” hear her pulling into O’Keefe’s storage at 1 Meadows Ave. on a voicemail she left him at 12:41 a.m. Learn stated within the third clip O’Keefe is believed to have died round 12:25 or 12:30 a.m. within the “early, early morning of Jan. 29.”

O’Keefe is believed to have died on Jan. 30. Learn’s protection workforce earlier within the day sought to discredit a witness who additionally mistakenly stated O’Keefe died on Jan. 29.

Burgess’ status stays focus of testimony

Learn’s protection doubled down on solutions that Burgess lied previously about his tutorial background. They sought to instantly refute Burgess’ testimony that he by no means misrepresented his credentials in previous court docket circumstances by presenting a CV he filed to the USA District Court docket Japanese District of Texas, Marshall Division, in 2023.

A doc Learn’s lawyer offered to the court docket learn: “Bachelor of Normal Science in Arithmetic and Enterprise Administration, College of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama, 2024.”

Learn’s lawyer, Robert Alessi, stated to Burgess, “You understand how to jot down ‘presently pursuing’ in your CV, right?” referencing the CV he submitted to the Massachusetts court docket.

He reiterated {that a} bachelor of science diploma in arithmetic and enterprise administration doesn’t exist on the College of Alabama, Birmingham.

When requested by prosecutor Hank Brennan why he hadn’t completed his diploma, Burgess stated “work, household and life” have gotten in the way in which. He stated he modified his CV to “presently pursuing” after not ending his diploma in 2024 as he anticipated.

Burgess’ testimony ended after he was requested by prosecution whether or not he personally submitted the false CV to the federal court docket. He stated he didn’t submit it, nor did he see it earlier than it was submitted.

Prosecution seeks to make clear Burgess’ credibility

Upon redirect, Brennan sought to re-establish Burgess’ credibility, beginning along with his tutorial report. He requested Burgess if he had helped develop the data listed on his biography web page on the Aperture web site, which incorrectly stated he had a bachelor’s diploma. Burgess stated he did not help with placing the web page collectively and didn’t know who within the firm would have finished so.

Brennan offered to the jury the CV Burgess offered to the court docket in October 2024, which indicated he was “presently pursuing” a bachelor’s diploma. Burgess stated he had by no means misrepresented his tutorial historical past in any of the quite a few trials he has testified in.

The prosecutor additionally gave Burgess time to elucidate in-depth the methodology behind the timeline he created. He requested Burgess whether or not an occasion in a Lexus SUV, corresponding to a back-up maneuver, might take longer than the 10-second window recorded by the car. Burgess stated it might.

In different phrases, Learn might have nonetheless been backing up after the automobile completed its 10-second recording of the transfer at 12:32:12 a.m. on January 30, based on Burgess’ evaluation. This provides prosecutors probably extra room of their timeline to counsel that Learn’s SUV struck O’Keefe. His iPhone locked for the final time throughout that timeframe at 12:32:09 a.m.

Alessi, continued to grill Burgess about what he contends are inconsistencies and inaccuracies with Burgess’ digital forensic evaluation of Learn’s Lexus earlier than O’Keefe’s dying.

Alessi identified Burgess used the mistaken date in his testimony concerning the location of Learn’s car within the early morning hours earlier than O’Keefe’s physique was discovered. Learn’s automobile was turned on and off a couple of minutes after midnight on Jan. 30, 2022. Burgess described these actions as occurring Jan. 29, 2022.

Burgess known as the discrepancy “parlance” and stated the evaluation was nonetheless correct all the way down to the second.

Alessi then grilled Burgess about what he stated had been discrepancies between his January 2025 report and Might 2025 report. Burgess stated he didn’t depart from his unique evaluation within the new report and as an alternative supplied clarifications.

Alessi requested whether or not Burgess saved his unique report purposefully obscure by solely noting a clock variance between Learn’s SUV and O’Keefe’s iPhone with out analyzing the distinction. Burgess denied that declare.

Later, Alessi appeared to query whether or not Burgess had a affirmation bias when creating his report. The protection legal professional interrogated Burgess about why he used the phrase “collision” to confer with an occasion that occurred within the early morning of Jan. 30, 2022. Burgess stated the phrase got here from a Massachusetts State Police crash report.

Alessi additional probed whether or not the occasion recorded by the SUV might have been triggered by one thing apart from a collision. Burgess responded that many issues might have triggered the recorded occasion.

Protection beforehand grilled Burgess on training

In a blunt Might 19 alternate, Learn’s protection legal professional pointed to a number of cases the place Burgess allegedly lied about having a bachelor’s diploma he by no means earned.

Burgess stated he was “presently pursuing” a level, however a number of paperwork, together with his LinkedIn web page and profile on his firm web site state he has a level in arithmetic and enterprise administration from the College of Alabama Birmingham.

Burgess stated his LinkedIn hadn’t been up to date in “fairly a while.”

CourtTV has been protecting the case in opposition to Learn and the prison investigation since early 2022, when O’Keefe’s physique was discovered exterior a Canton, Massachusetts dwelling.

You possibly can watch CourtTV’s dwell feed of the Learn trial proceedings from Norfolk Superior Court docket in Dedham, Massachusetts. Proceedings start at 9 a.m. ET.