‘Impeachment evidence’: Special prosecutor seeks phone records from Karen Read’s mother

DEDHAM, Mass. — In a new court filing in the Karen Read murder case, prosecutors on Friday made a request to obtain records from her mother’s phone, arguing that they “must be made available” to use as “potential impeachment evidence.”

Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan has asked the court to issue an order to Verizon to produce records from Janet Read’s phone from Dec. 30, 2021, through Jan. 30, 2022, the Nofrolk Superior Court filing showed.

Brennan argued in the filing that it’s imperative to view the phone records because data shows Karen Read called and texted her mother and her father, William Read, after she allegedly struck and killed her Boston Police Officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, outside a home in Canton during a blizzard in January 2022.

“Janet Read’s phone records must be made available to use as potential impeachment evidence depending on the testimony of William Read,” the filing stated. “This limited request is made to best protect Janet Read’s privacy rights while allowing evidence to compare the timing and frequency of Karen Read’s calls to her mother on the night of the victim’s death as compared to the frequency, or lack thereof, on dates not involving this alleged crime.”

Brennan has also asked to view William Read’s phone records, a request that Karen Read’s attorneys blasted as a “fishing expedition.”

The defense claims prosecutors already have records of calls between Karen Read and her father from Karen’s phone.

Prosecutors have alleged that William Read made conflicting statements about conversations with his daughter and they plan to call him as a witness at the next trial.

Prosecutors have also asked to see the un-aired footage of an interview 25 Investigates conducted with William and Janet Read, and Read’s brother Nathan, on Aug. 1, 2023.

That filing specifically seeks William Read’s statements to Ted Daniel after he was asked if Karen believed she may have hit John.

In the segment that aired on Boston 25, Bill Read said, “No, no, no. She felt she struck something. She said, ‘Dad, I think I struck something.’” Watch it below:

The SJC is currently determining if jurors who sat through Read’s first trial for the death of John O’Keefe will be questioned about their deliberations. The SJC will issue a written decision that could take four months before it is published.

Read’s lawyers have been fighting 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.

Read is accused of killing O’Keefe by striking him with her SUV and leaving him to die after a night of drinking.

Morrissey’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.

Read is hopeful to avoid a retrial that Cannone tentatively scheduled for January 2025.

Her first trial ended with a hung jury in July.

Read Friday’s filing in its entirety below:

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