A Massachusetts judge ruled that Karen Read will be retried for allegedly killing her cop boyfriend with her SUV, quashing her attempts to have the case thrown out.
Days after the case ended in a mistrial on July 1, Read’s lawyers claimed a number of jurors said they planned to acquit her of second-degree murder and fleeing the crime scene.
They further claimed these jurors were only deadlocked on the manslaughter charge, but Norfolk County Judge Beverly Cannone rejected this.
‘Because there was no open and public verdict affirmed in open court rendered in this case, the defendant was not acquitted of any of the charges,’ Cannone’s decision read. ‘The only unanimous act of the jury here was their representation to the court that they were “at an impasse” and unable to agree.’
David Traub, a spokesman with the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office, told the New York Post that her retrial for the murder of John O’Keefe is expected to kick off on January 27.
Karen Read, 44, is scheduled to be retried for the murder of Boston police officer John O’Keefe on January 27 after her prosecutors’ first go at her ended in a mistrial
Judge Beverly Cannone rejected arguments from Read’s lawyers to toss out her second-degree murder charge, stating that the former college professor was not acquitted
Cannone added that Read’s attorneys didn’t initially raise any concerns about the mistrial being declared and said they had multiple opportunities to do so while the jurors were submitting notes indicating their disagreement with one another.
Prosecutors accused Read, 44, of running over John O’Keefe during a January 2022 snowstorm in a bid to escape their toxic relationship.
On the evening of O’Keefe’s death, he and Read had been drinking with a group of friends at the Waterfall Bar and Grill in Canton, around 14 miles south of Boston, and were invited to his friend Brian Albert’s home for an afterparty.
Read, who prosecutors say drank several alcoholic drinks beforehand, decided to drop her boyfriend at the afterparty before she went to his home – that O’Keefe shared with his orphaned niece and nephew – to sleep at around 1 am.
Court documents revealed that the couple had been bitterly arguing for weeks beforehand, and on the night O’Keefe died, Read left him a voicemail calling him a ‘f****** loser’, and telling him: ‘John, I f****** hate you.’
John O’Keefe, 46, was found dead 6am on January 29, 2022, outside a house where Read dropped him off for an afterparty about 12.45am
Read and O’Keefe had been out drinking on the night of his death, before she drove him to an afterparty while she went home to sleep. He was found dead on the lawn of the afterparty’s home hours later
The couple had been dating for two years at the time of O’Keefe’s death. He had been serving on the Boston Police Department for 16 years.
According to Read’s version of events, she woke up at 4am to find that O’Keefe never returned home, leading her to frantically drive out to try and find him.
After finding O’Keefe’s body outside Albert’s home, which party attendees claimed he never entered, first responders on the scene alleged that Read repeatedly told them she hit him while in a panicked state.
Vehicle data also found that Read reversed her SUV for 62 feet at 24mph near to Albert’s home. O’Keefe’s cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma and hypothermia, with pieces of Read’s taillight found around his body, prosecutors said.
Read, a financial analyst and former professor at Bentley College, has been described as America’s ‘happiest murder defendant’ because of how often she would smile and even wink at cameras during her trial.
As her trial began, Read received a slew of support from true crime fans and locals who camped outside the courthouse with signs reading ‘Free Karen Read’
Amid intense media scrutiny and large demonstrations that surrounded her hearings, public opinion on Read’s innocence was split – with some calling to ‘free her’ and others accusing her of being a villainous murderer
Amid intense media scrutiny and large demonstrations that surrounded her hearings, public opinion on Read’s innocence was split – with some calling to ‘free her’ and others accusing her of being a villainous murderer.
Just two weeks after the mistrial was declared, Read decided to list her 2,000 square foot colonial style home in Mansfield for $849,900.
Her realtor revealed that she hadn’t been living in Mansfield since last year and ‘wishes for another family to enjoy the property she spent many years enhancing.’
Read has maintained her innocence from the start, claiming she was framed by police and people who attended the party on the night of O’Keefe’s death.