MANSFIELD – Karen Read is scheduled to appear in Dedham Superior Court Friday afternoon, where a judge is expected to hear arguments on whether two of the three charges against her in connection with the 2022 death of her boyfriend, a police officer, including murder, should be dropped.
Attorneys for Read, 44, of Mansfield, say in court documents that jurors voted during deliberations to acquit her of charges of first-degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in injury or death before the case ended in a Mistral on July 1.
The jury, which informed the court in three letters that it was deadlocked, was only divided on the drunken driving manslaughter charge against Read and did not know how to proceed, Read’s lawyers argue in court documents.
Prosecutors, who also received jury notices after the mistrial was declared, have said they will retry Read, arguing in their court filings that the state Supreme Court has ruled that verdicts must be made publicly and recorded.
But Read’s lawyers say that Read’s right to protection from double jeopardy, that is, from being tried twice for the same crimes, may have been violated in light of the unanimous acquittals during the deliberations.
Read, who is free on bail, denies allegations that she intentionally drove her SUV into her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, after a night of drinking on Jan. 29, 2022, and then left him for dead during a snowstorm.
In a court filing this week, defense attorney David Yannetti said a juror told him they acquitted Read of murder and fleeing the scene because “no one believed she hit him intentionally or even knew she hit him.”
Read says she was framed by corrupt state and Canton police officers as part of a broader cover-up. Her lawyers argue that Read dropped O’Keefe, 46, off at another Boston police officer’s house in Canton, where he was beaten during a basement party, dragged outside and left lying in the snow.
Her cause has attracted large numbers of supporters who have appeared at court hearings and her trial and held demonstrations in other communities. Counterprotesters declaring Read guilty have shown up during jury deliberations and post-trial hearings.
Read’s renegotiation is scheduled for January.