Karen Read’s defense team says jurors were unanimous on acquitting her of murder
DEDHAM, Mass. — Jury members in the trial of Karen Read unanimously found her not guilty of murder or leaving the scene of a fatal accident. Only the remaining charge of manslaughter was not heard before the judge abruptly ordered a new trial, her defense team said Monday.
The revelation came in a defense motion Monday asking the judge for permission to question all 12 jurors after hearing from three who described their conclusions. They hope to show that the state of Massachusetts cannot retry her on murder charges because of double jeopardy.
Read was accused of running over her boyfriend, a Boston police officer, with her SUV in January 2022, leaving him for dead in a snowstorm.
A judge declared the mistrial on the fifth day of deliberations after jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked. The defense said she declared the mistrial without questioning jurors about the individual charges and without giving attorneys for both sides a chance to comment.
The motion filed in Norfolk County Superior Court said a juror told the defense team that the jurors voted 12-0 to acquit Read of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident in which someone died. The motion asked that those charges be dropped. However, the jurors disagreed on the charge of manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, the juror told the defense attorneys.
The attorneys also received second- and third-hand information about two other jurors, indicating a consensus to acquit Read of second-degree murder.
Read, a former associate professor at Bentley College, was confronted second degree murder and other charges in the death of O’Keefe, a 16-year-old Boston police officer who was found outside the Canton home of another Boston police officer. An autopsy found O’Keefe died of hypothermia and blunt force trauma.
The defense argued that O’Keefe was murdered in her home after she dropped him off at the meeting and that the officers chose to frame her because she was a “convenient outsider.”
A turning point in the two-month process came when the lead investigator, State Agent Michael Proctor, was forced to admit and apologize for sending offensive texts about Read to friends, family and fellow officers during the investigation.
Massachusetts State Police Proctor relieved of his duties after the lawsuit, saying the move followed the agency’s earlier decision to launch an internal investigation into possible serious misconduct. The hearing on Proctor’s status was held behind closed doors Monday. The possible outcomes included suspension, placement on restricted duty or return to full duty.