Karen Read takes fight over 2 criminal charges to Mass. SJC on Wednesday

DEDHAM, Mass. — Karen Read is expected to attend a hearing at the state’s highest court in Boston on Wednesday morning with her appellate attorney Martin Weinberg and trial attorneys David Yannetti and Alan Jackson.

Her legal team has asked the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) to dismiss her second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a deadly crash charge for double jeopardy reasons. Double jeopardy is a legal protection that prohibits anyone from being prosecuted twice for the same crime.

The Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office opposes Read’s bid to get the charges dropped and argues that Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone was correct when she ruled all of Read’s charges should remain for her retrial.

Boston-based defense attorney Dana Curhan has appeared before the SJC more than 100 times in his 40-year legal career. Curhan is not involved in the Read case. He told investigative reporter Ted Daniel both sides will be provided at least 15 minutes to make their arguments and the panel of Justices will ask questions.

“You can’t go up there and give a speech or give a closing. You’re going to go up there and have a conversation and that conversation may start before you reach the podium,” Curhan said.

Read’s legal team wants the SJC to order Judge Cannone to question the jury from Read’s mistrial about their secret deliberations to get the 2 charges dropped. Weinberg argued that polling the jury will show the panel reached ‘not guilty’ verdicts on murder 2 and leaving the scene and they were only hung on Read’s manslaughter charge.

In an October filing to the SJC, attorney Weinberg wrote ‘Read’s motion to dismiss is predicated upon post-trial statements of five jurors (four directly and one indirectly) that the jury reached a final, unanimous decision to acquit her of second-degree murder. In the usual course, that verdict would have been announced in open court, and re-prosecution for that charge would be constitutionally prohibited.”

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Karen Read

Curhan said, “The SJC has the ability to permit such inquiry in the limited and unusual circumstances presented here. The Judge does not have the authority to reconvene the jury and enter acquittals, but the court could permit the Judge to dismiss those counts.”

The Norfolk County DA’s Office said Assistant District Attorney Caleb Schillinger will argue on behalf of the Commonwealth. In a filing to the SJC, Schillinger referenced the 3 notes the jury sent during their 5 days of deliberations.

‘The jury gave no indication it had reached a unanimous verdict on any charge,’ Schillinger wrote. The notes indicated the jury was ‘hopelessly deadlocked’ and at an ‘impasse’.

If jurors are called back and questioned, Schillinger argued they ‘may feel pressured to provide responses that they believe will minimize their risk of being harmed or harassed,’ and ‘future jurors may be hesitant to express their views fully and honestly during deliberations.’

The jurors’ identities have been kept secret by the court after one expressed concern about safety if their names were to be released.

“If the SJC allows this inquiry, and all of the jurors confirmed that they were prepared to acquit on counts one and three, and nobody ever asked them. The court may very well enter a verdict in favor of Ms. Read”, Curhan said.

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