DEDHAM – Jury deliberations will continue on Monday Karen Read’s murder case in Massachusetts. Jurors deliberated for approximately 22 hours and indicated that they could not reach a unanimous verdict. How does the length of the deliberations compare to other high-profile cases?
Read is on trial in the January 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe. She is charged with second-degree murder, intoxicated manslaughter and leaving the scene of a crime where personal injury or death occurred.
How long did the Karen Read jury deliberate?
The jury in Read’s murder trial was given the case and began deliberating Tuesday afternoon. They continued deliberating all day Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Early Friday afternoon, the jury sent a note to Judge Beverly Cannone.
“Despite our thorough review of the evidence and our careful consideration of all disputed evidence, we have been unable to reach a unanimous verdict,” the letter said.
Cannone responded that given the amount of evidence presented during the 10-week trial, she would like jurors to continue trying to reach a verdict.
Later in the day, jurors asked to deliberate for another half hour, giving hope that a decision could be reached. Instead, the day ended with no verdict and jurors were sent home for the weekend.
Karen Read deliberations compared to other high-profile trials
The OJ Simpson The trial lasted eight months, but jury deliberation lasted just four hours before Simpson, who died earlier this year, was acquitted.
The Casey Anthony Trial made national headlines in 2011. Anthony was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter in her daughter’s death. After 10 hours of deliberation, the jury found her not guilty.
Aaron Hernandez was charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd in 2015 and stood trial for nearly three months in 2015. deliberative for 36 hours over seven days, jurors found Hernandez guilty.
Whitey Bulger The 2013 trial in Boston lasted two months, with 32 hours of jury deliberations spread over five days, resulting in a guilty verdict.
Cannone was a judge in 2023 when the jury could not reach a verdict in the case against Emanuel Lopes.
Lopes was charged with the murder of Weymouth Police Sgt. Michael Chesna and innocent bystander Vera Adams in 2018. Jurors could not reach a unanimous decision on whether Lopes was a murderer or mentally ill, prompting Cannone to make a statement mistrial.
In February 2024, Lopes was found guilty after a second trial.
What happens if jurors cannot reach a verdict?
If jurors in Read’s trial cannot reach a unanimous verdict, Cannone could declare a mistrial. That would leave it up to the state to decide whether to retry the trial.
Legal expert Phil Tracy predicted that prosecutors would try Read again, but said that would not be easy.
“It will be cruel to get jurors who haven’t given an opinion yet,” Tracy said.
Tracy estimated that if there is no verdict by Wednesday, Cannone would declare a mistrial.
