Karen Read’s murder case ends in mistrial after jury deadlock

DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — A judge declared a mistrial Monday after a jury was unable to reach an agreement in a controversial and closely watched case Karen Read, woman accused of hitting her boyfriend, a Boston police officer, with her SUV and leaving him for dead in a snowstorm.

Prosecutors say they intend to retry the case, in which the defense argued Read was framed by police.

On the fifth day of deliberations, the jury sent Judge Beverly Cannone a note saying they were still deadlocked in the case involving John O’Keefe’s death in January 2022. In a matter of moments, a trial that had lasted two months and included more than 600 pieces of evidence and more than 70 witnesses ended.

“People, this is what happens when you make false accusations against an innocent person,” defense attorney Alan Jackson told reporters on the courthouse steps. “The commonwealth did what they could. They took the state’s burden on a false charge, on a compromised investigation, on compromised investigators, on compromised witnesses. Guess what, they failed.”

Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrisey thanked O’Keefe’s family in a statement “for their commitment and dedication during his lengthy trial.”

“They were focused on what really was at the heart of this case — bringing justice to John O’Keefe,” Morrisey said.

Read, a former associate professor at Bentley College, faced second-degree murder and other charges in the death of O’Keefe, a 16-year-old Boston police officer who was found outside the home of another Boston police officer in Canton. An autopsy showed that O’Keefe died of hypothermia and blunt force trauma.

Prosecutors said Read and O’Keefe had been drinking heavily before she dropped him off at a party at the home of Brian Albert, a fellow officer. They said she hit him with her SUV and then drove away.

The defense tried to portray Read as the victim, arguing that O’Keefe was actually killed inside Albert’s home and then dragged outside. They argued that investigators focused on Read because she was a “convenient outsider” who saved them from having to consider other suspects, including Albert and other law enforcement officers present at the party.

On Friday, the jury foreman told the judge they had not reached a unanimous verdict despite an “exhaustive review of the evidence.” The judge told jurors to keep trying. On Monday morning, jurors said they were at an impasse, but the judge asked them to continue deliberating. By afternoon, they said continuing would be futile.

“The deep division is not the result of a lack of effort or care, but rather a sincere commitment to our individual moral principles and beliefs,” the jury said in a note read by the judge at the trial.

O’Keefe’s mother cried as the mistrial was announced, while Read hugged her father and other relatives.

The verdict is a victory for the defense, which has lambasted prosecution witnesses for shoddy police work and conflicts of interest between investigators and witnesses. Police admitted to using red plastic cups to collect blood evidence and a leaf blower to try to clear snow and expose evidence. The lead detective admitted to making vulgar statements about Read in text messages from his private cellphone.

The breakthrough in this case came when State Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead detective in the case, took the stand. He admitted sending abusive text messages about Read to friends, family and police colleagues during the investigation. He apologised for the language he used but insisted it had no bearing on the investigation.

In his writing, he called Read several names, including “crazy.” At one point, he wrote to his sister that he wished Read would “commit suicide,” which he told jurors was a figure of speech. And despite his relationships with several witnesses, he stuck to the case.

Two forensic experts hired by the U.S. Department of Justice during the investigation into the police handling of the case testified for the defense, presenting scientific analysis supporting their conclusion that O’Keefe’s injuries and the physical evidence did not support the prosecution’s theory that he was struck and injured by Read’s 7,000-pound (3,175 kilogram) vehicle.

O’Keefe suffered serious head trauma and other injuries but no major bruising or broken bones, which are typical of accidents caused by a vehicle impact at the speeds indicated by the SUV’s GPS and on-board computer.

As the drama unfolded in the courtroom, dozens of Read supporters dressed in pink gathered outside each day, carrying “Free Karen Read” signs and attacking her as she arrived each day. A smaller group also showed up to convict Read.

Read’s supporters cheered as news of the mistrial broke, but they acknowledged it was not the outcome they had hoped for — and that she could face trial again.

“This is not the verdict we were hoping for, we were hoping for an acquittal. This is what this jury should have reached with the evidence presented,” Rita Lombardi, a Canton resident who described herself as part of the “sidewalk jury.” “But we accept a hung jury, we accept a mistrial.”

Aidan Timothy Kearney, known online as Turtleboy, whose website and social media posts have been critical of the prosecution for months, called the ruling “bittersweet.”

“This is not the outcome we wanted. I wanted complete exoneration,” he said. “But I think the fact that so many people on this jury clearly recognize that the majority clearly support Karen Read is a small minority who are just stubborn and don’t want to look at the facts, don’t want to be impartial and just judge her based on the fact that they don’t like her.”

Prosecutors cited some first responders who testified that Read admitted to hitting O’Keefe — saying “I hit him” — as well as evidence that Read was legally drunk or nearly so eight hours laterafter she returned home with friends who found the body.

Several witnesses testified that the couple had a turbulent relationship that began to deteriorate. Prosecutors presented angry text messages in the hours before O’Keefe’s death. They also played voicemails from Read to O’Keefe that were left after she allegedly hit him, including one left minutes later that said, “John, I (expletive) hate you.”