DEDHAM – The prosecution and defense in the Karen Read case announced on Monday that they want to postpone her second criminal trial by more than two months.
Judge Beverly Cannone set a new trial date for January 27, 2025 after Read’s initial trial ended in a mistrial. But in a joint motion filed with the court, special counsel Hank Brennan and Read’s legal team asked for the retrial to be postponed until April 1, 2025.
“The joint request will provide both the Commonwealth and the defense with sufficient time to prepare for trial, will accommodate the schedule of new witnesses, including expert witnesses, will allow for testing and disclosure by the experts in a timely manner before the process, and will result in a far more efficient and streamlined presentation of evidence by both sides,” the motion said.
The prosecutor said it has new experts for the second trial, including a biomechanical engineer who did not testify the first time.
Karen Read’s civil trial was recently postponed
Last week, the judge overseeing the wrongful death lawsuit against Read, brought by John O’Keefe’s family, said she will not have to be dropped off in the civil case until her second criminal case is resolved.
In the criminal case, Read is accused of beating her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in Canton and left it in the snow after a night of heavy drinking in January 2022. The O’Keefe family is suing Read for monetary damages in the civil lawsuit.
Who is Karen Read?
Read, a 44-year-old financial analyst from Mansfield, is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene of personal injury and death. She has said she is the victim of a cover-up by law enforcement and several others while pleading not guilty to all charges.
Reading is also allowed attractive to the Massachusetts Supreme Court in an effort to have two of the three charges against her dismissed. According to her attorneys, after the mistrial, jurors said they unanimously agreed to acquit her on charges of murder and leaving the scene of personal injury and death.
Read’s hearing before the Supreme Court is scheduled for Wednesday.
