DEDHAM – The murder trial of Karen Read ended Monday after a “sharply dividedThe hung jury failed to reach a verdict, forcing Judge Beverly Cannone to declare a mistrial. The decision came after more than 23 hours of deliberation in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts.
Watch full live coverage of the mistrial on CBS News Boston by clicking on the video player above.
Read is accused of murdering her boyfriend. Boston Police Officer John O’Keefeby hitting him with her car in Canton January 29, 2022She denies any involvement and claims he was killed at a house party attended by police and other law enforcement officials.
Will Karen Read be tried again?
Judge Beverly Cannone set the case to return to court on July 22 to determine next steps.
In a statement after the ruling, the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office said it plans to retry the case.
“First, we thank the O’Keefe family for their commitment and dedication to this long process. They kept their focus on the true heart of this case: finding justice for John O’Keefe. The Commonwealth intends to rehear the case,” the statement said.
What Karen Read’s Jurors Said About the Deliberations
Jurors sent one final note to Judge Cannone before declaring a mistrial.
“Despite our rigorous efforts, we remain at an impasse. Our perspectives on the evidence are sharply divided. Some members of the jury are convinced that the evidence exceeds the burden of proof and establishes the elements of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt,” the spokesman said. the jury said in its note. “Conversely, others believe that the evidence falls short of this standard and does not sufficiently establish the necessary elements of the charges. The deep divisions are not due to a lack of effort or dedication, but rather to a sincere adherence to our individual principles and moral convictions. Continuing to deliberate would be futile and would only force us to compromise these deeply held convictions.”
Cannone responded by saying, “I’m not going to do that to you. Your service is complete. I declare a mistrial in this case.”
Karen Read hung the jury
The mistrial will take place after approximately five hours days of deliberations. The jury of six women and six men received the case on Tuesday, June 25, after closing arguments. They heard from 74 witnesses, 68 of whom were on behalf of the prosecution, over 29 days of testimony over nearly two months. They told Judge Cannone on Friday stuckbut she sent them back to deliberate further.
They sent a second letter to the judge on Monday morning, saying: “We are deeply divided by fundamental differences in our opinions and state of mind. The differences in our views are not rooted in a lack of understanding or effort, but deeply held beliefs. that each of us carries, which ultimately leads to a point where consensus is unattainable. We recognize the weight of this admission and the implications it carries.
What is Tuey Rodriguez?
Judge Cannone then gave the jury what is known as a “Tuey-Rodriguez instruction,” a last resort instruction aimed at getting them to reach a verdict. But the jury hung and Cannone had no choice but to declare a mistrial.
Karen Read mistrial
Without a guilty or not guilty verdict in this trial, Karen Read could be tried again. Legal experts say this could take months. A new trial will not happen anytime soon as there are other lawsuits that have yet to be heard.
“If this case has to be retried, we’re going to go back to the same group of people, the same group of Norfolk County jurors, and we’re going to have to try again to find a subset of people who really don’t know anything about this case. It’s going to be extraordinarily difficult,” said legal analyst Jennifer Roman told WBZ TV.
Karen Read accuses
Read, 44, of Mansfield, Massachusetts, was charged with second-degree murder, intoxicated manslaughter, and leaving the scene of a crime causing injury and death. If she had been convicted of the murder, she could have faced life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Read is accused of hitting and killing O’Keefe, whom she was dating at the time, with her SUV after a night of drinking and leaving him to die during a snowstorm in Canton, Massachusetts.
Boston Police
O’Keefe’s body was found in the front yard of Brian Alberts house at 34 Fairview Road in Canton. Albert, a retired Boston police officer, hosted an afterparty for the group who had been drinking in the hours leading up to O’Keefe’s death.
Karen Read Jury
It is not yet clear what caused the jury to fail during its deliberations.
For the prosecutor to get any conviction, the jury had to agree that she hit O’Keefe with her SUV that night, whether she intended to or not. It is not known whether the twelve jurors agreed on this or not. If they did, they could begin discussing the charges.
Karen Read closing arguments for the trial
Lawyers made very different arguments on June 25.
The defense attempted to paint a picture of a complex conspiracy between police and witnesses in the case.
“Ladies and gentlemen, there was a cover-up in this case, that much is clear,” Alan Jackson, Read’s lawyer, told the court.
Prosecutor Adam Lally urged jurors to follow the evidence and Read’s own words.
“‘I hit him, I hit him, I hit him, I hit him.’ Those are the words of the defendant. Four times,” Lally said. “You have heard testimony from four different witnesses who heard and observed the defendant’s statements on January 29, 2022.”
AP Photo/Steven Senne
Karen Read’s testimony from the murder trial
Defense attorneys argued at trial that O’Keefe was actually killed during a fight in Albert’s home, then dragged outside and dumped on the lawn during a snowstorm.
The trial started on April 16 with jury selection. Testimony has begun on April 29.
Over the course of nearly two months, the prosecution called 68 witnesses and the defense team called six more people to the stand.
Among the witnesses called by the prosecution were first responders who testified they heard Read “I hit him” statements the morning O’Keefe’s body was found. They also had several witnesses testify that O’Keefe never entered Brian Albert’s home.
Defense attorneys spent much of their time on cross-examination trying to show that the investigation into O’Keefe’s death was biased and focused on Read from the start. Read’s attorneys alleged that people investigating the case lied to cover up for friends who were witnesses.
The Karen Read Inquiry
Michael Proctor, the lead investigator on the case, was a key witness at the trial.
Prosecutors called Proctor to testify about evidence he discovered during the investigation. But Proctor was also forced to read aloud derogatory text messages he sent to friends about Read.
Proctor is currently under investigation by the Massachusetts State Police, but is still on full duty. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said he is “disgusted” by Proctor’s actions.
Although Read had said she would be willing to take a stand in her own defense, she did not testify at the trial.
AP Photo/Steven Senne
Supporters of “Free Karen Read”
Great crowds of Read’s followers have been present outside Norfolk Superior Court throughout the trial. The crowd grew even larger in the final week of the trial, with many wearing and holding pink “Free Karen Reading” characters.
On the day the closing statements were presented, supporters told WBZ-TV they came from as far away as Tennessee and Michigan to support Read.
