In a high-profile case involving Karen Read, who is accused of the murder of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, a mistrial was declared on July 1. Read’s retrial is scheduled to begin in January. The defense had filed a motion to dismiss two of the three charges, including second-degree murder, but the judge denied the motion. Read is accused of fatally running over O’Keefe while intoxicated, leading to her arrest.
The defense argued that jurors in the first trial internally agreed that Read was not guilty of murder or leaving the scene of the accident, only reaching an impasse on the manslaughter charge. Despite this, the judge disagreed with the defense’s argument that retrying Read on the charges violated double jeopardy rules. The defense had claimed that retrying her on second-degree murder and hit-and-run charges crossed the lines of double jeopardy, as there was no acquittal on these charges in the first trial.
However, Judge Beverly Cannone stated in a memorandum that since there was no acquittal on any charges in the first trial, retrying Read on all charges does not pose a risk of double jeopardy. With this decision, the case will now proceed to a retrial, where the prosecution will once again seek to prove Read’s guilt on the charges she is facing in connection with the death of Officer O’Keefe.
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