In a trial marked by dramatic turns, the testimony of Boston Police Officer Kelly Dever captivated audiences this week during the retrial of Karen Read, particularly due to her tense exchanges with defense attorney Alan Jackson.
Dever, who was stationed in Canton at the time of Read’s arrest, found herself on the stand where she faced pointed questioning regarding her prior statements to federal investigators about the death of Read’s boyfriend, John O’Keefe.
On January 29, 2022, the morning O’Keefe’s body was discovered, Dever was working an overnight patrol shift. She was called to cover dispatch for a supervisor responding to the scene.
According to Jackson, Dever had previously told federal authorities that she observed then-chief Ken Berkowitz and another man, Brian Higgins—an ATF agent—spending an extended amount of time with Read’s SUV.
However, during her testimony, Dever recanted her earlier statement, describing it as a false memory. She clarified that she could not have witnessed Berkowitz and Higgins with the SUV because her shift ended at 3:45 p.m. and the vehicle was not towed until hours later.
Despite the recantation, legal experts weighed in on the implications of Dever’s testimony. Jack Lu, a retired Superior Court judge, noted that a failure of memory in one case does not affect an officer’s ability to testify in future cases, emphasizing that this is established legal precedent.
Mark Bederow, a defense attorney closely monitoring the trial, expressed concern over Dever’s
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