Karen Read is set to appear in court on Monday following a mistrial in her murder case involving her Boston police officer boyfriend. The trial ended in a deadlock after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous decision on the charges brought against her.
Read is accused of hitting John O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving him in a snowstorm in January 2022. The trial lasted two months before the judge declared a mistrial on the fifth day of deliberations.
The defense has raised concerns about the jury deliberations, claiming that four jurors indicated a unanimous not-guilty verdict on two charges. They argue that retrying Read for murder would violate double jeopardy laws.
Prosecutors have dismissed the defense's claims as unsubstantiated and based on hearsay. They maintain that the mistrial was declared appropriately after the jury failed to reach a verdict.
Following the mistrial, the judge ordered that the jurors' names remain confidential due to safety concerns. One juror expressed fears for their safety and their family's safety if their identity were to be revealed.
The defense is pushing for a post-verdict inquiry to establish the jury's stance on each charge before the mistrial was declared. They assert that the jury had unanimously acquitted Read of two of the three charges.
Read, a former adjunct professor, had been out drinking with O’Keefe before his death. The defense claims that O’Keefe was killed inside a home and that Read was framed as a scapegoat.
The case remains unresolved as both sides await further legal proceedings to determine the next steps in this complex and contentious trial.
