DEDHAM, Mass. — Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone on Monday issued a ruling blocking Karen Read’s defense team from calling a planned expert witness to the stand during the Mansfield woman’s upcoming retrial.
Read, 45, is accused of hitting John O’Keefe, her Boston police officer, with her Lexus SUV in Canton on Jan. 29, 2022, and leaving him to die after a night of drinking. The defense has sought to portray Read as the victim, saying O’Keefe was actually killed inside the Albert family home at 34 Fairview Road in Canton and then dragged outside and left for dead.
She 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.
Read’s second murder trial begins with jury selection on Tuesday, but when testimony starts, the defense won’t be allowed to call a key witness to the stand.
In a new court filing, Cannone said she would not allow Michael Easter, a retired FBI agent, to testify about the quality of the investigation into the death of O’Keefe. Read’s lawyers wanted Easter to talk about flaws and procedural issues.
“The court finds that expert testimony is not needed for the jury to determine whether or not the investigation was compromised by any failure to follow procedures,” Cannone wrote in her ruling.
Special prosecutor Hank Brennan had claimed that Easter is not qualified to give an opinion on the quality of the investigation or what he calls “alleged inadequacies” by police.
Cannone also released a list of 150 other witnesses that the prosecution and defense could call during the retrial.
After several failed attempts to get the case thrown out, Read’s retrial will kick off at 9 a.m. when the first batch of prospective jurors will be brought into Dedham’s Norfolk Superior Court for questioning.
Read’s first trial ended with a hung jury in July 2024.
Since the end of the first trial, Michael Proctor, who served as the lead investigator in the Read case, was fired from his role within the Massachusetts State Police in mid-March.
Cannone recently extended the buffer zone in the area of Bates Court, Bullard Street, Ames Street, and Court Street to keep demonstrators a distance from the Dedham courthouse.
Read supporters hosted standouts across the country on Sunday to bring attention to her case.
Read Cannone’s full ruling:
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