Another Karen Read juror says panel agreed to acquit her of murder before ‘confusing’ mistrial, lawyers claim
Karen Read’s lawyers claim a fourth juror has come forward to say the jury unanimously acquitted her of murdering her Boston cop boyfriend — but that the mistrial was declared in a “very confusing moment.”
“Juror D told me that he/she decided to reach out to me because he/she was ‘uncomfortable’ with how the trial ended,” Read’s defense attorney Alan Jackson wrote in a court filing submitted Wednesday, claiming the juror told him they’d agree to acquit on Count 1 for second-degree murder, and Count 3 for leaving the scene of a fatal crash.
“The disagreement was solely as to Count 2 and its lesser offenses,” Jackson continued, referring to the charge of manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor.
“Juror D explained that the jury actually discussed telling the judge that they had agreed unanimously on NOT GUILTY verdicts for Counts 1 and 3, but that they were not sure if they were allowed to say so,” the filing read.
The latest claim directly contradicts the jury foreman’s notes to Judge Beverly Cannone — including the final message on July 1 that jurors were deadlocked as a result of “deeply held beliefs.”
The foreman said, “The deep division is not due to a lack of effort or diligence, but rather a sincere adherence to our individual principles and moral codes” and asked that the judge not force jurors to attempt to compromise their beliefs about the case.
The judge then declared a mistrial. Previously, she had read the jury a special set of instructions that are given to jurors if they can’t reach agreement.
The Norfolk County District attorney said July 1 that he would seek to re-try the case.
On Monday, Jackson submitted a court filing claiming three jurors had told him all 12 members of the jury agreed Read not guilty of murder. Jackson asked that charge be thrown out. Wednesday’s filing about the fourth juror was added as a supplement to the original motion.
What to know about the Karen Read murder case
- Karen Read, 44, was charged with second-degree murder for allegedly mowing down her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, as she was dropping him off to meet friends in Canton, Mass., on Jan. 29, 2022.
- The night of O’Keefe’s death, the couple had been out on a bar crawl, with Read allegedly consuming seven drinks in just 90 minutes, according to reports.
- Prosecutors claim that after Read drunkenly ran over her boyfriend, she drove off and left O’Keefe to die outside as a snowstorm was set to sweep in.
- Read’s lawyers argued she was framed in a sweeping law enforcement cover-up and that O’Keefe actually died after getting into an altercation with his officer friends.
- The two-month trial that had 74 witnesses featured stunning revelations, including “unprofessional” messages by the lead detective, and crowds of fawning supporters who cheered Read outside court each day.
- On July 1, 2024, Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial in the case, since the jury was not able to reach a unanimous verdict after five days of deliberations.
- Read faced up to life in prison if she had been convicted on the top count of murder.
In it, Jackson claimed the jurors felt “very uncomfortable” that a mistrial was declared because their opinion on each count was never asked.
“Is anyone going to know that we acquitted on Count 1 and 3? No one ever asked about those counts,” Jackson said the juror told him.
“It did not feel right,” the juror reportedly said, adding that, “every one of us will agree and acknowledge that we found [Karen Read] NOT GUILTY of Counts 1 and 3. Because that’s what happened.”
Jackson claimed the jurors who spoke out felt trying Read for murder and manslaughter would be “unjust” given the verdicts they reached but were not made known in court.
Read is accused of murdering her boyfriend John O’Keefe by running him down with her car while drunk on the night of January 29, 2022, and leaving him to die in a snowbank outside a cop friend’s home.
Across the two-month trial — which called on 74 witnesses — Read’s defense argued that she was framed by O’Keefe’s cop pals, and that they had actually beaten him up and left him to die in the snow.
She faces life in prison if convicted of murder.
