A mistrial has been declared in the Karen Read case after a jury was unable to reach a verdict on charges that she murdered her boyfriend, a Boston police officer.
The local district attorney’s office quickly issued a statement saying that prosecutors intend to retry the case, which jurors first began hearing in late April.
Prosecutors’ statement thanked only the family of the late officer, John O’Keefe, “for their commitment and dedication to this long process”.
“They maintained sight of the true core of this case – to find justice for John O’Keefe,” the statement said.
A jury of six men and six women began deliberating on Tuesday as to whether to convict Read, 44, of the murder of O’Keefe, 46. Jurors indicated multiple times that they were deadlocked. But judge Beverly Cannone instructed them to keep deliberating.
Cannone declared a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a verdict by Monday afternoon. Supporters of Read began celebrating after Cannone’s decision, the local news website masslive.com reported – but prosecutors apparently sought to dampen such scenes with their practically immediate statement about intending to retry the case in front of another jury.
O’Keefe was discovered dead on 29 January 2022 outside the home of Brian Albert, a retired Boston officer who hosted a house party in the Boston suburb of Canton.
According to investigators, O’Keefe suffered multiple head injuries, including a fractured skull and a brain bleed. The 46-year-old also sustained hypothermia.
Prosecutors have argued that Read killed O’Keefe in an act of domestic violence. Read is accused of driving over O’Keefe with an SUV while under the influence and fleeing the scene while O’Keefe lay dying.
In his closing statement, prosecutor Adam Lally reshared witness testimony that reported hearing Read saying she “hit” O’Keefe with her car.
Read pleaded not guilty to several charges including second-degree murder, manslaughter while under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of a deadly crash.
Her defense team has maintained that she was framed by corrupt officials attempting to cover up O’Keefe’s murder.
Defense lawyer Alan Jackson alleged that O’Keefe was beaten in the basement of Albert’s house and attacked by a dog before being dragged outside.
Jackson added that the close-knit circle of Boston officers used fabricated evidence and false testimony to frame Read.
Defense attorneys also argued that several conflicts of interests biased O’Keefe’s murder investigation.
“Ladies and gentlemen, there was a cover-up in this case, plain and simple,” Jackson told jurors, according to WCVB.
The defense also narrowed in on sexist texts sent by the lead investigator of the case, state trooper Michael Proctor.
Proctor called Read a “whack job” in several text messages to friends, families and colleagues about the case, the Associated Press reported.
The state trooper also admitted to joking with other officers about not finding any nude photos of Read during the investigation while searching her phone and texting his sister that he wished Read would “kill herself”.
In a statement late Friday, the state police announced that Proctor had been relieved of duty and transferred out of the district attorney’s office which tried Read.
“We cannot imagine the way in which this result has heightened the O’Keefe family’s immeasurable grief, heartache and sense of loss,” the state police’s statement added.
