An attorney who represented Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger will prosecute Karen Read, whose murder trial in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend ended with a jury indecisive, when the case is retried, officials said Wednesday.
In a statement, Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said he had appointed attorney Hank Brennan to lead the effort to retry Read as a special assistant district attorney. Morrissey described Brennan as a skilled former prosecutor and a longtime defense attorney with expertise in complex law enforcement cases.
In a statement released by the district attorney’s office, Brennan said he had two core obligations: to ensure that Read receives a fair trial and to ensure that all facts surrounding the death of her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, “are fully and fairly presented in court, free from outside influence.”
“I take full responsibility and all obligations for prosecuting this case and will do so conscientiously, ethically and diligently, without compromise,” he said.
Brennan served as Bulger’s attorney for years before the crime boss was murdered in a West Virginia federal prison in 2018.
O’Keefe, who worked for the Boston Police Department for 16 years, was found unresponsive in the front yard of a now-retired Boston sergeant on the morning of January 29, 2022.
Read was charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while driving under the influence and leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death.
Prosecutors say she ran over O’Keefe with her Lexus SUV and left him for dead outside her home in Canton, just south of Boston.
Read has maintained her innocence. Her attorneys have alleged that she was framed by other law enforcement officials and was the subject of a biased investigation by state police.
After five days of deliberation, the jury said they could not reach a verdict and the judge declared a mistrial. A new trial is scheduled for January 27.
According to Morrissey’s statement, the lead prosecutor in the case, Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally, will remain on the team that will retry Read.
The lead detective for the state police investigating O’Keefe’s death admitted in court that he had made derogatory comments about Read to friends, family and supervisors. He was suspended without pay days after the trial.
The detective, Michael Proctor, is the subject of an ongoing internal investigation that links the former top Massachusetts State Police official to allegations of serious misconduct raised during Read’s trial.
Proctor testified that the comments were “regrettable” and “unprofessional,” but he said they did not affect the integrity of the investigation. Proctor did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
