A “Starkly Divided” jury results in a mistrial for the murder trial of Karen Read

Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial on Monday following the “starkly divided” hung jury’s inability to reach a decision in the murder trial of Karen Read. Following 27 hours of discussion, the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts, rendered its ruling.

Read is charged of killing Boston police officer John O’Keefe, her partner, on January 29, 2022, in Canton by striking him with her vehicle. She says he was killed during a home party with police and other law enforcement, but she denies any involvement.

Will a retrial for Karen Read occur?

The case will return to court on July 22 to decide the next course of action, according to Judge Beverly Cannone.

The Norfolk District Attorney’s office announced its intention to retry the case in a statement following the ruling.

“First of all, we would like to express our gratitude to the O’Keefe family for their perseverance and commitment throughout this protracted procedure. They never lost sight of the real purpose of this case, which was to bring John O’Keefe to justice. The statement said, “The Commonwealth plans to retry the case.”

What jury Karen Read had to say about their discussions?

Before declaring a mistrial, the jurors sent Judge Cannone one last note.

“We’re still stuck in a dead end, even with our best efforts. Regarding the evidence, our opinions diverge greatly. The jury stated in its note that “some members sincerely believe that the evidence surpasses the burden of proof establishing the elements of the charges beyond reasonable doubt.” On the other hand, some believe the evidence falls short of this requirement and does not provide enough proof to support the charges. It is not for lack of work or diligence that there is such a deep divide, but rather a genuine commitment to our personal values and moral convictions. We would be forced to compromise these firmly held convictions if we carried on with our deliberations, which would be pointless.”

“I’m not going to do that to you folks,” Cannone retorted. Your assistance has ended. In this instance, I’m declaring a mistrial.”

Alan Jackson promises that the defense “won’t give up”

On Monday, Read’s attorneys had a brief conversation outside of court, but she remained silent.

“The Commonwealth performed poorly. Based on false accusations, tainted witnesses, tainted evidence, and compromised investigators, they brought the weight of the state. “No matter how long it takes, no matter how long they keep trying, we will not give up,” defense lawyer Alan Jackson declared. “They failed miserably and they’ll continue to fail.” “We have no quit.”

Karen Read was hung jury

After nearly five days of deliberations, the mistrial is declared. After closing arguments on Tuesday, June 25, the case was presented to the jury, which consisted of six men and six women. In 29 days of testimony spread over almost two months, they heard from 74 witnesses, 68 of whom testified on behalf of the prosecution. Judge Cannone was informed on Friday that they were at a standstill, but she ordered them to reconvene for more discussion.

They wrote again, to the judge on Monday morning: “We are profoundly split along basic lines regarding our beliefs and emotional states. Our differences in opinion are not the result of a lack of knowledge or effort, but rather of firmly held beliefs that drive each of us to a point where agreement is impossible. We are aware of the significance and weight of this admission.”

Tuey Rodriguez: who is she?

After after, Judge Cannone issued the jury a “Tuey-Rodriguez instruction,” which is a last-ditch directive meant to persuade them to find a verdict. However, the jury was still deadlocked, leaving Cannone with little option except to call a mistrial.

Karen Read the mistrial

In the event that Karen Read is found not guilty or guilty at this trial, she may be tried again. That can take months, according to legal experts. There are still trials that need to be heard, therefore a retrial would not happen anytime soon.

“We will use the same jury pool from Norfolk County if this case needs to be retried, and we will once more need to look for a subset of people who are truly uninformed about this issue. It will be extremely challenging, legal analyst Jennifer Roman stated to WBZ-TV.

Karen Read the charges.

Read, 44, of Mansfield, Massachusetts, was accused of manslaughter while under the influence of alcohol, second-degree murder, and fleeing the scene of a fatal accident. Had she been found guilty of the murder accusation, her sentence could have been as long as life in jail without the chance of release.

After a night of drinking, Read is accused of hitting and killing O’Keefe, with whom she was then dating, in Canton, Massachusetts, with her SUV and leaving him to perish in a snowstorm.

At 34 Fairview Road in Canton, O’Keefe’s body was discovered in the front yard of Brian Albert’s residence. An afterparty for the group that had been out drinking in the hours before O’Keefe’s death was being hosted by Albert, a retired Boston police officer.

Karen Read jury

What the jurors couldn’t agree upon throughout their deliberations is still unknown.

The jury had to find in favor of the prosecution’s case that she struck O’Keefe that evening with her SUV, whether on purpose or not. It’s unclear if all 12 jurors reached the same conclusion. They may start talking about the accusations if they did.

Karen Read the closing arguments in a trial

On June 25, attorneys made wildly divergent closing arguments.

The defense made an effort to present the case’s witnesses and law enforcement as part of a complex conspiracy.

Alan Jackson, the lawyer for Read, told the court, “Ladies and gentlemen, there was a coverup in this case, plain and simple.”

Jurors were encouraged by prosecutor Adam Lally to consider both Read’s own comments and the evidence.

The defendant said, ‘I hit him, I hit him, I hit him,’ in those exact words. Four times,” uttered Lally. “You heard testimony from four different witnesses who overheard and observed those statements from the defendant on January 29, 2022.”

Karen Read the testimony from the murder trial

During the trial, the defense team contended that O’Keefe was actually killed in a struggle that broke out inside Albert’s house, after which he was carried outside and left on the lawn in the middle of a snowstorm.

The jury selection phase of the trial started on April 16. The day of testimony was April 29.

For almost two months, the defense team called six more witnesses to the stand in addition to the 68 called by the prosecution.

First responders who stated they overheard Read saying “I hit him” the morning O’Keefe’s body was discovered were among the witnesses the prosecution summoned. In addition, other witnesses attested to O’Keefe’s never having entered Brian Albert’s house.

During the cross-examination, the defense team invested a lot of time trying to demonstrate that the O’Keefe death investigation was biased and solely looked at Read from the beginning. Attorneys for Read asserted that investigators had misled to protect pals who were witnesses.

The investigation led by Karen Read

Lead investigator in the case, Trooper Michael Proctor of the Massachusetts State Police, was a crucial witness in the trial.

Proctor was called by prosecutors to testify regarding evidence he had found throughout the course of the inquiry. However, Proctor was also made to read aloud insulting texts that he had written to pals about Read.

Proctor is still fully employed but is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Massachusetts State Police. Governor of Massachusetts Maura Healey expressed her “disgusted” view on Proctor’s behavior.

Read did not testify during the trial, despite having stated that she would be eager to take the stand in her own defense.

Supporters of “Free Karen Read”

Throughout the trial, sizable throngs of Read’s supporters have gathered outside Norfolk Superior Court. In the last week of the trial, the crowds grew even larger; many people were holding “Free Karen Read” posters and wearing pink.

Supporters of Read told WBZ-TV that they traveled from as far away as Tennessee and Michigan on the day of the concluding remarks.