The legal team for Karen Read, accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, is petitioning the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to dismiss two charges she faces, including second-degree murder. Read is charged with allegedly hitting O'Keefe with her SUV and leaving him in a snowstorm in January 2022.
Read’s defense attorneys argue that retrying her on these charges would violate her constitutional protection against double jeopardy. The brief filed by her attorney, Martin Weinberg, challenges an August decision by a lower court judge, who ruled that the case could proceed to retrial in January.
"Where there was no verdict announced in open court here, retrial of the defendant does not violate the principle of double jeopardy," said Judge Beverly Cannone in her ruling.
Weinberg's petition, however, argues that statements from five jurors after the mistrial show that they had unanimously decided Read was not guilty on two of the three counts. The mistrial was declared after jurors were deadlocked on a manslaughter charge, but according to the defense, they had already agreed to acquit her on the charges of second-degree murder and leaving the scene.
"Surely, that cannot be the law. Indeed, it must not be the law," Weinberg wrote in the brief, contending that jurors' post-trial statements should be taken as evidence that they had reached a conclusion on the other counts.
“And, in the context of this highly publicized case, it strains credulity to suggest that, if the unequivocal statements of five jurors quoted above did not, in fact, represent the unanimous view of all 12, the remaining jurors would allow the inaccuracy to go uncorrected,” the attorney added. The defense argues that had the remaining jurors disagreed, they would have notified the court.
The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office disputes this narrative, asserting that no official verdict was reached on any of the charges before the mistrial was declared. Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally emphasized that the jury was given clear instructions and had ample opportunity to indicate if they had reached a decision.
"The jury never indicated they had reached a verdict on any of the charges," said Lally. He also argued that the defense is relying on “hearsay, conjecture and legally inappropriate reliance as to the substance of jury deliberations.”
The case has garnered significant attention, in part due to the allegations raised by Read’s defense team, who claim that she is being framed. They argue that O'Keefe was killed inside the home of fellow Boston officer Brian Albert, where O'Keefe was dropped off after a night of drinking, and that his body was later dragged outside. According to the defense, law enforcement focused on Read because she was a “convenient outsider.”
An autopsy concluded that O'Keefe died from a combination of hypothermia and blunt force trauma. Prosecutors allege that Read hit O'Keefe with her SUV and drove away, leaving him in the snow.
The defense also pointed to troubling behavior from some of the law enforcement officials involved in the investigation. State Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator, was removed from duty after it was revealed during the trial that he had sent offensive text messages, referring to Read as a “whack job” and expressing a desire for her to "kill herself.” Proctor later said his comments were a "figure of speech" and admitted to letting his emotions get the better of him.
The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office is expected to respond to the petition by mid-October, and the court will determine whether Read's retrial will proceed as scheduled.
Prosecutors remain firm in their stance that Read should be retried on all charges, citing the lack of a formal verdict and maintaining that their case is grounded in the evidence presented at trial.
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