Judge denies motion to disqualify DA Morrissey’s office from Karen Read case

CANTON, Mass. — A Norfolk Superior Court judge denied Karen Read’s lawyers’ motion to disqualify District Attorney Michael Morrissey’s office from investigating the case in a decision on Thursday.

According to the 11-page ruling, Judge Beverly J. Cannone determined that “no egregious misconduct occurred that is reasonably or substantially likely to materially prejudice or interfere with the defendant’s right to a fair trial.”

The defense cited two instances of grounds for dismissal: DA Morrissey’s video statement on August 25, 2023, warning against alleged ongoing harassment of witnesses in the case which they say violates Read’s right to a fair trial and the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office failing to disclose information regarding an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office into the defendant’s prosecution, which they argue violated the Rules of Professional Conduct on disclosure of exculpatory information.

Judge Cannone ruled that although comments made by DA Morrissey “crossed the line of permissible extrajudicial statements by a prosecutor,” she found nothing that would affect or interfere with a fair trial.

Karen Read is accused of running down her Boston Police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe with her SUV outside 34 Fairview Rd in Canton just after midnight on January 29, 2022. Her defense team has long claimed her innocence and has accused prosecution witnesses of framing Read in a wide-ranging coverup.

Several of Read’s supporters have been vocal in their claims of her innocence.

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