A Massachusetts judge has refused to dismiss two charges, including murder, against Karen Read, who is accused in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend. Read allegedly hit John O’Keefe with her SUV and left him for dead in a January 2022 snowstorm. After a two-month trial that ended in July, jurors were deadlocked and the judge declared a mistrial. The case is now set to move forward to a new trial beginning on January 27, 2023. The defense argued that retrying Read on the same charges would violate double jeopardy, as jurors had reportedly reached a not guilty verdict on second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a deadly accident, but the judge disagreed, stating that since the verdict was not announced in open court, a retrial would not violate double jeopardy.
Read’s attorney requested that the judge consider various options to prove that the jury had reached a verdict on the two charges. These options included polling the jury, bringing in the four jurors who claimed to have reached a final decision on the counts, or having the defense lawyers ask the jurors to execute an affidavit confirming the acquittal on the two charges. Prosecutors dismissed the defense’s request as an unsubstantiated post-trial claim based on hearsay and conjecture about the jury’s deliberations. The Assistant District Attorney urged the judge to dismiss the defense motion and move forward with a retrial on the two charges.
The defense argued that four jurors had stated after the trial that they had unanimously reached a not guilty verdict on the two charges, but the judge found that the jurors had not announced a verdict in open court during deliberations. This led to the decision to proceed with a new trial on January 27. The defense had claimed that no one on the jury believed Read hit O’Keefe on purpose, but the judge’s ruling meant that the case would continue to trial despite these assertions. The defense’s request for the dismissal of the two charges was dismissed by the judge, who sided with the prosecution’s argument that the defense’s claims were not evidence-based and should not prevent a new trial from taking place.
The case has garnered attention due to the high-profile nature of the victim being a Boston police officer and the circumstances surrounding his death. Read is accused of intentionally hitting O’Keefe with her SUV during a snowstorm, leading to his death. The mistrial declared in July raised questions about the jury’s decision-making process, prompting the defense to seek further evidence that the jurors had reached a decision on the charges. However, the judge’s ruling to move forward with a new trial on the murder and leaving the scene charges means that the case will continue to be litigated in court. The upcoming trial scheduled for January 27 will be a crucial step in determining Read’s fate in relation to the charges against her.
