DEDHAM, Mass. — The team of lawyers representing Karen Read, the woman charged in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend, filed a new motion on Wednesday to dismiss the murder case against her over “extraordinary governmental misconduct.”
[ Karen Read tells her story in exclusive one-on-one interview: Part 2, a drive through Boston ]
Read, 44, of Mansfield, is accused of hitting John O’Keefe with her Lexus SUV in Canton on Jan. 29, 2022, and leaving him to die in a snowstorm 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 and dragged outside.
The motion to dismiss Read’s three charges of second-degree murder, leaving the scene of a crash, and manslaughter, as well as defense attorney Alan Jackson’s supporting paperwork, have been impounded.
It wasn’t immediately clear when Cannone would take up the motion in court.
This new motion comes after Boston 25′s Ted Daniel first reported on Monday that the federal probe of the Read case is over. Two sources told Daniel that federal prosecutors notified the Massachusetts State Police, the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office, and the Canton Police Department last week that no charges would be filed.
As 25 Investigates reported in December 2023, the federal probe was run by the U.S. Attorney’s Public Corruption Unit and agents from the Boston FBI office assisted with it. It was focused on widely publicized allegations that Read was framed for O’Keefe’s death by law enforcement and those she and O’Keefe had been drinking with in the hours before O’Keefe was found unresponsive outside 34 Fairview Road.
In an exclusive one-on-one interview on Super Bowl Sunday, Read told Daniel that she has “nothing to hide” and that she’s “been framed” for murder.
[ Karen Read tells her story in exclusive one-on-one interview: Watch the extended cut ]
Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial in July 2024 after finding jurors couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict on all three charges. Earlier this month, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts denied Read’s bid to dismiss her charges of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a deadly crash for double jeopardy reasons.
Read’s attorneys had argued that their client’s double jeopardy protections were violated because several jurors who came forward after the mistrial indicated that Read was found not guilty of the two charges in question. Cannone later rejected a motion to dismiss the charges, prompting the SJC appeal.
On Tuesday, a previous pre-retrial hearing that was brought to an abrupt end continued with Cannone addressing her “grave concerns” about the defense’s handling of two of their star witnesses.
[ Case against Karen Read in limbo after judge extends hearing on ‘grave concerns’ ]
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One of Read’s attorneys, Robert Alessi, responded in court after special prosecutor Hank Brennan accused the defense of essentially lying about dealings that they had with ARCCA crash reconstruction experts.
Alessi told the court that there was nothing shady about their interactions with accident reconstruction specialist Dr. Daniel Wolfe and biomechanical engineering specialist Dr. Andrew Rentschler, accusing Brennan of misleading Cannone.
Wolfe and Rentschler both testified on behalf of Read in June 2024 and stated that injuries to Read’s Boston police officer boyfriend weren’t consistent with a vehicle strike.
Brennan has alleged that the defense hid communications with ARCCA and a more than $23,000 payment they allegedly made to the engineering consulting firm initially hired by federal authorities to look into Read’s case.
Alessi confirmed that Read’s legal team did pay for the ARCCA fee after trial but Brennan has maintained that the information should have been shared publicly.
“Of course, any attorney, unless they want to risk malpractice, is going to make a communication with that expert, which was perfectly legal,” Alessi argued.
Brennan responded, “It is the bias, the relationship that is critical, and that was hidden from the court.”
Cannon ended Tuesday’s hearing without deciding if the defense will face any consequences, however, she previously suggested that this could “have profound effects” on the future of the case.
The defense and prosecution are due back in court on Tuesday, March 4.
The retrial of Read is slated for April 2025.
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