Karen Read, a Massachusetts woman accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend in a snowy collision, has lost an appeal seeking to have her case dismissed on the grounds of double jeopardy after a hung jury in the first trial. Read, 45, is facing charges of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a deadly accident after allegedly hitting Officer John O’Keefe with her SUV and fleeing the scene after a drunken fight during a snowstorm in Canton, Massachusetts. The court rejected her argument that jurors only deadlocked on one of the three charges.
At the upcoming second trial in April, Read will be prosecuted by Hank Brennan, who has previously represented notorious mobster James “Whitey” Bulger. The new trial follows a mistrial where jurors were divided on Read’s guilt. Read has claimed that she was framed by other members of law enforcement after dropping O’Keefe off at a fellow officer’s home, where he was later found dead in the snow.
Testimony from Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor, a key investigator, was damaging to the prosecution, with jurors reacting negatively to his text messages referring to Read in derogatory terms. The court ruled that post-trial disclosures from jurors could not retroactively alter the trial’s outcome. The second trial is set to begin on April 1, while Read is also facing a wrongful death lawsuit from O’Keefe’s family.
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