Karen Read case returns to court Monday for status hearing on 2nd trial date

DEDHAM, Mass. — The Karen Read case returns to court Monday, exactly three weeks after a mistrial was declared in her murder trial.

The prosecution and defense are expected back in Dedham’s Norfolk Superior Court for a status hearing on setting a date for Read’s second trial.

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 bringing an end to 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” during their deliberations.

The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office has repeatedly said that it plans to retry Read and a new trial date could be scheduled as soon as July 22.

Prosecutors in the murder case filed documents last week in opposition to the defense’s post-trial motions to dismiss Read’s criminal charges.

Defense attorneys said Tuesday in a new filing that the retrial of Read “should not be allowed,” calling the state’s continued push for a conviction in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe “grossly unfair.”

Cannone on Thursday indefinitely extended an order impounding the jury list from Read’s murder trial on Thursday, 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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