DEDHAM, Mass. — A juror in the Karen Read murder trial recently reached out to defense attorney David Yannetti to clarify to him that the jury didn’t think Read knew she hit her Boston police officer boyfriend and that they found her not guilty of two of three indictments.
A new filing in Norfolk Superior Court on Monday indicated the jury determined that even if Read hit John O’Keefe with her Lexus SUV, she did not realize that she did.
In a prior affidavit, Yannetti quoted an unsolicited text message from “Juror B” that read, “No one thought she hit him on purpose or even thought she hit him on purpose.”
“Juror B clarified that he/she meant to write, ‘No one thought she hit him on purpose or even knew that she had hit him,’” Yannetti revealed in the new filing.
If asked, the jury would also confirm that not-guilty verdicts on indictments for second-degree murder and leaving the scene with injury or death were agreed upon, according to the juror.
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“Juror B believes that even jurors who were leaning toward a conviction on some part of indictment 2 will confirm that the other two indictments were acquittals,” Yannetti stated in the filing. “He/she believes that other jurors have been reluctant to come forward because there is so much public and media attention focused on this case.”
Read’s legal team now hopes to keep their client from being tried again on the same charges.
“The defense respectfully renews its contention that the jury acquitted Ms. Read on counts 1 and 3, or alternatively, there was no manifest necessity for a mistrial as those counts, and therefore the Double Jeopardy,” Read’s legal team stated.
Read’s legal team also asked the court for permission to initiate contact with three other jurors, in addition to Juror B.
A court filing on Friday claimed four jurors in the Read trial contacted the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office, with one saying that Read was unanimously acquitted on two charges she was accused of, including murder.
Judge Beverly Cannone has agreed to hear arguments on the motion to dismiss the case on Friday, Aug. 9. Last month, Cannone tentatively scheduled Read’s retrial for Jan. 27, 2025.
Deadlocked jurors sent a note to Judge Beverly Cannone on July 1 indicating they were at an “impasse” and future deliberations would be futile, ultimately ending Read’s two-month trial.
Read’s legal team has filed motions to dismiss two of the three criminal charges that she faces in connection with the death of O’Keefe, including the second-degree murder charge and leaving the scene of a fatal crash.
Read’s attorneys have claimed in the filings that five separate jurors have come forward to notify them that the jury found Read “not guilty” on those charges during their deliberations.
Prosecutors in the murder case filed documents last month in opposition to the defense’s post-trial motions to dismiss Read’s criminal charges, calling the claims made by Read’s attorneys “unsubstantiated and sensational.”
Defense attorneys said in a follow-up filing that the retrial of Read “should not be allowed,” calling the state’s continued push for a conviction in the death of O’Keefe “grossly unfair.”
Cannone then indefinitely extended an order impounding the jury list from Read’s trial, citing one juror’s “credible” and “reasonable” fear for their safety.
Read is accused of killing O’Keefe by striking him with her SUV and leaving him in a snowstorm in Canton in January 2022.
Prosecutors said Read and O’Keefe had been drinking heavily before she dropped him off at a party at the home of Brian Albert, a fellow officer. They said she hit him with her SUV before driving away.
The defense sought to portray Read as the victim, saying O’Keefe was actually killed inside Albert’s home and then dragged outside and left for dead.
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