Karen Read murder case: Judge to hear arguments on motion to dismiss 2 charges

DEDHAM, Mass. — The Karen Read murder case will return to court on Friday as Judge Beverly Cannone is expected to hear arguments on a motion to dismiss two charges that have been called into question in the weeks after the Mansfield woman’s high-drama trial ended with a hung jury.

Read’s defense has stated in multiple court filings that five jurors have come forward to tell them that the jury agreed Read was not guilty of two of the three charges against her in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe: second-degree murder and leaving the scene with injury or death.

Read’s defense team states it received “unsolicited communications” from jurors who deliberated in her first trial, “indicating in no uncertain terms that the jury had a firm 12-0 agreement that Ms. Read was not guilty of two of the three charges against her, including the charge of murder in the second degree,” court documents filed days after the mistrial stated.

The filing also stated that the jury unanimously believed that Read was not guilty of count three, which is leaving the scene of a fatal crash.

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The jury was only unable to agree on the manslaughter charge that Read also faces in connection with O’Keefe’s death in Canton in January 2022, according to the defense.

Cannone declared a mistrial after the jury sent her a note indicating they were at an “impasse” and future deliberations would be futile. It was the third note the jury sent stating they could not reach a unanimous decision during the five days of deliberations.

The defense has since filed three memorandums in support of dismissing the two charges, with the most recent coming on Monday. That memo stated that the jury had determined that even if Read hit O’Keefe with her Lexus SUV, she did not realize that she did.

Read’s legal team 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 in Monday’s filing.

Prosecutors in the murder case previously filed documents 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.”

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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.

Cannone has tentatively scheduled Read’s retrial for Jan. 27, 2025.

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