Karen Read’s defense team rips state’s investigation in bid to get her bail dropped

DEDHAM, Mass. — An attorney for Karen Read has filed a motion in Norfolk Superior Court to have her bail removed. In the new filing, attorney David Yannetti cites her legal expenses, health complications, and what he describes as mounting evidence of her innocence.

Read is charged with second-degree murder for the death of her Boston Police Officer boyfriend John O’Keefe. He was found unresponsive outside of 34 Fairview Road in Canton on Jan. 29, 2022. Prosecutors say Read backed over O’Keefe in a snowstorm and left him for dead after a night of drinking.

Read’s Bail was initially set at $100,000 during her Superior Court arraignment. According to the filing, Judge Beverly J. Cannone reduced it to $80,000 on Feb. 8, 2023. Read posted the bail and was released from custody. Her defense is now asking for her release on personal recognizance.

Yannetti states that Read has lost her employment and the health insurance that came with it after her arrest. Read was an equity researcher at Fidelity Investments and a lecturer in the finance department of Bentley College.

“Read has had to spend considerable money on legal fees to properly defend herself and to obtain basic discovery material that should have been voluntarily turned over to the defense by the Commonwealth many months ago,” the filing states. Yannetti references “outstanding” items of evidence he says the defense has been waiting 19 months for.

Karen Read, woman charged in Boston officer's death, appears in court

Yannetti devotes 5 pages of the 9-page filing to Read’s third-party culpability defense. Read’s legal team has claimed O’Keefe was lured into the home at 34 Fairview Road, beaten, and then dragged outside to the front of the property where he was found unresponsive hours later in a snowstorm.

According to Yannetti law enforcement, “neglected to interview at least five individuals who were either present at 34 Fairview Road… and/or drove directly past where Mr. O’Keefe’s body should have been laying.” At the time, 34 Fairview Rd was owned by Boston Police Officer Brian Albert. Albert was having a get-together that O’Keefe had been invited to attend.

Read’s defense team has argued that police failed to seriously consider any of the party attendees as potential suspects.

The Norfolk County District Attorney’s office has previously stated, that eight people inside the home and three more outside have testified that O’Keefe never entered, and the office states that GPS data from O’Keefe’s phone supports that.

A party attendee who helped Read search for O’Keefe on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022, told police Read had shown her a cracked right rear taillight on her vehicle and questioned if she could have hit O’Keefe.

The filing also details Read’s significant medical conditions, including Crohn’s disease and multiple sclerosis. It states that Read is paying for private medical insurance out-of-pocket.

A spokesperson for the Norfolk County D.A.’s office said they have not seen the motion to remove Read’s bail yet and “would not likely have comment before the court considered it.”

The motion could be argued as soon as Sept. 15, 2023, when Read is scheduled to return to court.

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