Karen Read is set to be prosecuted again in January 2025 on charges that she killed her boyfriend, Boston Police officer John O’Keefe. Read appeared in court Monday for the first time since her murder trial ended in a mistrial earlier this month.
At a brief status hearing Monday, Norfolk County Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone tentatively scheduled the new jury trial for Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, with a pretrial hearing set for Jan. 14.
Read’s legal team filed several motions contending that jurors said the jury unanimously reached a “not guilty” verdict on two of the three charges against Read, including murder. Jurors were deadlocked on the charge of manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, according to defense attorney Alan Jackson, who has petitioned the court to throw out two of the charges.
Read will face a new jury in the retrial with all three original charges remaining, Cannone ruled Monday. In an Aug. 9 hearing, the defense is expected to argue its motion to dismiss two of the charges in the case.
Cannone said she set retrial date far enough out “to make sure we have plenty of time,” considering the likelihood of an appeal from either side, depending on how she rules in response to the defense’s motion to dismiss the two charges.
“I assume whatever I end up doing on the motion to dismiss will be appealed,” she said during Monday’s hearing.
Attorney Barry Bisson, who chairs the Massachusetts Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Council, said there are several possible outcomes that could emerge from the August hearing.
“If [Cannone] allows the defendants’ motion to dismiss, then that’s it, and the commonwealth can’t retry her — the only option that they have is to appeal. If she doesn’t allow the motion to dismiss, then the defendant can appeal,” he said. “There’s a number of different things that can happen here, but the main reason for taking so much time is that — regardless of her decision — someone’s going to appeal.”
The appeals court could decide not to take up the case, but the process will still take time, Bisson said. With such a high-profile case, he said jury selection could also take longer.
“It’s still going to take more time than the first time around, because people really hadn’t heard that much, they heard bits and pieces,” he said. “Now it’s gained so much exposure, so much notoriety, it’s just out there. Even with a larger pool of jurors, it’s going to take longer.”
Read’s case has attracted national attention, conspiracy theories and charges of witness intimidation filed against a controversial local blogger. It also highlighted issues within the Canton police department — Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor was suspended without pay earlier this month, pending the outcome of an internal investigation into comments Proctor made as lead investigator in the death of John O’Keefe.
Hundreds of protesters and supporters gathered outside the Dedham courthouse Monday ahead of the hearing, which lasted only minutes.
The scene outside the courthouse was “a little chaotic,” with protesters shouting at one another through megaphones, said Paul Cristoforo, a protest organizer who supports Read.
“It got a little heated for a few minutes, but overall, considering all the stuff that’s been going on, a few exchanges back and forth is not a bad thing,” Cristoforo said. “It’s been vile, vile behavior online.”
Read, 44, of Mansfield, is accused of killing O’Keefe by hitting him with her SUV in January 2022. She was indicted in June of last year on charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
