On cross-examination, Faller told Read attorney Elizabeth Little that the testing machine at Good Samaritan captures an alcohol byproduct known as NADH.
Specifically, he said, “we test for the rate of change of NADH production.”
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“Are you aware that the medical literature has also found that patients suffering from multiple sclerosis [such as Read] have a two-fold increase in NADH levels?” Little asked.
Faller said “it’s the rate of change of NADH” that testers are looking for.
“So if somebody has NADH on board, I believe it’s not going to affect the result,” Faller said.
Read, 45, has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence, and leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death.
Prosecutors allege she backed her SUV in a drunken rage into Boston police officer John O’Keefe early on Jan. 29, 2022, after dropping him off outside a home on Fairview Road in Canton following a night of bar-hopping.
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Her lawyers say she was framed and that O’Keefe entered the house, owned at the time by a fellow Boston officer, where he was fatally beaten and possibly mauled by a German Shepherd before his body was planted on the front lawn.
Read’s first trial ended with a hung jury in July, and she remains free on bail.
Also Friday, jurors heard from Canton firefighter-paramedic Jason Becker, who was sent to the Canton home for a Section 12 call regarding Read. Such calls are for made for people who need hospitalization for mental health reasons, and Read had expressed suicidal thoughts after finding O’Keefe’s body around 6 a.m., according to previous testimony.
Becker said Read told him she was distressed because her final words to O’Keefe came during an argument.
“Did she ever suggest it was in a voicemail?” prosecutor Hank Brennan asked.
“She did not,” Becker said.
Read left angry voicemails on O’Keefe’s phone after dropping him off in front of the house shortly after 12:30 a.m., according to records and prior testimony.
Earlier Friday, jurors visited the home at 34 Fairview Rd. before returning to court to hear testimony.
Before the visit, Brennan told them at the courthouse to “pay attention to the street, the front yard of the home,” as well as Read’s Lexus, which would be parked there for the benefit of jurors.
He said the weather and visibility on Friday morning would be “very different” than during the predawn hours when O’Keefe’s body was found on the lawn in the dark in a blizzard.
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Read’s lawyers have stressed that no one who left the home early on Jan. 29 reported seeing O’Keefe’s body on the lawn, although a witness at the first trial testified to seeing some type of “blob.“ The defense also plans to call a plow driver who’ll testify that he saw no body on the lawn when he drove his vehicle past the home a couple hours after O’Keefe was allegedly struck.
”I’d ask you to make a note on the Lexus about the height of the bumper," Brennan said. “I’d ask you to make note of the height of the right rear taillight.”
O’Keefe had injuries to his face and skull, as well as scratches on his arm, but no broken bones or fractures or any other injuries to his lower body, according to court records and prior testimony.
Read attorney David Yannetti also addressed jurors before the view, listing several things they should note.
“The house, second-floor window to that house, the three front doors in the front of the house, the driveway, the street, the front lawn, and flagpole” on the lawn, Yannetti said. “And we’ll be asking you specifically to consider the distance between that second-floor front window and the front lawn,” and the distance of the front doors from the lawn.
He said he was also asking jurors to take a good look at Read’s Lexus.
“To stand next to it, to size it up, to take it in,” Yannetti said.
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Testimony resumes Monday .
Material from prior Globe stories was used in this report.
Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.
