Judge declares mistrial in Karen Read case: What happens now after jury remains deadlocked?
The “deeply divided” jury could not reach a verdict in the trial of Karen Read accused of killing her boyfriend forcing the judge to declare a mistrial.
The twelve jurors that heard testimony in the nine-week-long Karen Read trial for murder said that they were at an impasse on Monday. After five days of deliberations the foreman informed Norfolk County Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone that the six men and six women were “deeply divided” and remained deadlocked forcing the judge to declare a mistrial.
“Despite our commitment to the duty entrusted in us, we find ourselves deeply divided by fundamental differences in our opinions and state of mind,” a note from the foreman to Judge Cannone read. Prosecutors have said they intend to retry the case. A status hearing for the case was scheduled for later this month.
Judge declares mistrial in Karen Read case after jury remains deadlocked
Read, 44, a former financial analyst and professor at Bently University, was charged with murder in the second degree and manslaughter of her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, 46, a police officer from Boston. Prosecutors alleged that Read intentionally killed her boyfriend, with whom she had had a tumultuous two-year relationship, on 29 January 2022 by backing her Lexus SUV into O’Keefe and leaving him for dead.
Read’s lawyers argued that she had been framed and O’Keefe had actually received the blunt force head trauma, which along with hypothermia were determined the cause of death, in an altercation he was in during a house party that he was attending. He was found unresponsive outside the residence where the gathering took place in the morning by Read who had gone to look for him after he hadn’t returned home.
The lead prosecutor, Norfolk County Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally, argued that there was no cover-up by law enforcement telling the jury in closing statements that it was “speculation” and “it didn’t happen.”
However, his case was hampered by derogatory and vulgar messages about Read sent by the lean investigator. As well, a defense witness testified that the injuries O’Keefe sustained were not consistent with the speed at which it was argued that Read had hit her boyfriend with her car.
This resulted in the situation where some of the jurors felt that the prosecution had met the burden of proof to convict but others were not sufficiently convinced by the evidence.