Discordant jury sent home for weekend

Evan Lambert and Alex Caprariello

6 hours ago

(NewsNation) – Jurors in the trial of Karen Read, a Massachusetts woman who faces second-degree murder and other charges in the death of her boyfriend, said Friday they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict, but the judge ordered them to continue deliberating.

Judge Beverly Cannone heard arguments from both the Commonwealth, who wanted them to continue, and Read’s defense team, who said the jury had had enough time. Cannone ultimately decided she wanted jurors to discuss the case in more detail before deciding that he should hang.

The jury was sent home for the weekend after 20 hours and 53 minutes of deliberations. They will resume Monday at 9 a.m.

John O’Keefe, a 16-year veteran of the Boston Police Department, was found unconscious in a snowdrift outside the home of a fellow officer in Canton, Massachusetts, in January 2022. He was taken to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Prosecutors say Read hit him with her SUV outside their home during a snowstorm after a night of drinking. The pair were on their way to the second officer’s house to meet friends, but witnesses said neither of them made it there.

Defense attorneys, however, say Read is an innocent victim of a police cover-up. Read’s lawyers say O’Keefe was killed during a domestic dispute and left on the front lawn.

“’Look away’ — four words that sum up the entire Commonwealth case. Four words that sum up the hopes of those who tried to deceive you. Conflicts of interest? Never mind. Just look away,” defense attorney Alan Jackson said during his closing argument this week. “That’s what they’re counting on. But the indisputable fact is that you were lied to in this courtroom. And it’s your job to make sure that you never, ever look away.”

During the trial, prosecutors relied heavily on what Read allegedly said in the moments after O’Keefe’s body was found. For example, witnesses testified that she said something like, “I hit him, I hit him, oh my God, I hit him.”

If Read is convicted, she faces life in prison with the possibility of parole.

The case divided the community of Canton, a Boston suburb where O’Keefe raised his niece and nephew after their parents died and where many witnesses and even investigators knew each other.

Many of Read’s supporters gathered outside the courthouse, dressed in pink, during the eight-week trial. On Friday, about 100 of them waited as the jury continued to deliberate.

“Karen Read was framed for murder by the very people who are sworn to protect us, who we trust to keep us safe,” one woman told NewsNation on Thursday. “That’s why I’m here today. Karen Read could have been any one of us, and there’s never been a case where there’s been so much scientific evidence to exonerate Karen Read.”

NewsNation correspondent Alex Caprariello contributed to this report.