Karen Read, accused of murdering her Boston police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe, is set to return to court on Monday, July 22, 2024, following a mistrial in her case.
The mistrial was declared after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
Read is charged with running over O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving him to die in a snowstorm in January 2022. Her two-month trial ended when the jury declared themselves hopelessly deadlocked after five days of deliberations.
The main issues now revolve around the jury’s deliberations and the mistrial declaration.
Defense’s Arguments
The defense claims that four jurors unanimously found Read not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a deadly accident, but were deadlocked on the charge of manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.
They argue that retrying her for murder constitutes unconstitutional double jeopardy. Furthermore, the defense criticizes Judge Beverly Cannone for announcing the mistrial abruptly without adequately questioning the jurors or consulting the lawyers from both sides.
Prosecution’s Response
Prosecutors dismiss the defense’s claims as “unsubstantiated but sensational” and based on “hearsay and conjecture.”
They argue that the defense was given opportunities to respond during the trial and had initially advocated for declaring a mistrial.
They maintain that this eliminates any double jeopardy concerns and assert that the defense’s request to drop charges is legally inappropriate.
Juror Safety Concerns
Following the mistrial, Judge Cannone ordered the jurors’ names to be withheld for 10 days, later extending this order indefinitely due to safety concerns expressed by one of the jurors.
This order does not prevent jurors from voluntarily coming forward, but none have done so thus far.
The defense seeks a “post-verdict inquiry” to question all 12 jurors to establish a record showing that Read was acquitted of two out of three charges. They argue that this should have been done before the mistrial declaration.
Incident Details
Read, a former adjunct professor at Bentley College, was with O’Keefe, a 16-year veteran of the Boston police, on the night of his death.
An autopsy revealed that O’Keefe died from hypothermia and blunt force trauma. The defense contends that O’Keefe was killed inside a home and that Read was framed as a “convenient outsider.”
The legal battle continues as Read returns to court and the argument over whether she should face a retrial and the validity of the mistrial decision is expected to be heated.
