Lawyers for Karen Read, the suspected Boston cop killer, have accused jurors of having an “agreement” to find her not guilty before the judge declared a mistrial in her trial over the death of John O’Keefe. The defense team raised this issue in a motion to dismiss second-degree murder charges, claiming that three of the jurors sent communications indicating a unanimous agreement that Read was not guilty. Read was accused of backing her SUV into her Boston police officer boyfriend, O’Keefe, and leaving him to die in a blizzard in 2022.
The trial ended after five days of deliberation when jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Jurors wrote to the judge that they were “deeply divided by fundamental differences,” leading to the mistrial. The key conflict between the defense and prosecution was whether Read intentionally hit O’Keefe with her SUV.
Read claimed that O’Keefe’s colleagues set her up, while prosecutors argued that the couple had an alcohol-fueled argument on the night of his death. Prosecutors plan to seek a new trial, but Read’s lawyers argue that a double jeopardy argument should prevent this.
The case has been highly controversial, with conflicting accounts of what happened the night O’Keefe died. The mistrial has left many questions unanswered, and the legal battle is set to continue as both sides fight for justice in this high-profile case.
Source
Photo credit www.foxnews.com