Lawyers in Karen Read case ask to delay March murder trial

Lawyers for Karen Read have joined prosecutors in a motion to push back the Mansfield woman’s murder trial, slated to begin next month in Norfolk Superior Court.

In a Friday court filing, the attorneys asked to reschedule a Feb. 15 hearing, cancel a Feb. 26 court date, and change Read’s March 12 trial date to a hearing on several pending motions.

Read, 43, is accused of backing her SUV into her boyfriend — Boston police officer John O’Keefe — while dropping him off at a home in Canton after a night out with friends. Prosecutors allege that she left O’Keefe to die in a blizzard early on Jan. 29, 2022, but Read’s lawyers are alleging a widespread cover up and have pointed the finger at other afterparty guests. 

The defense team recently filed a motion for sanctions against Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey, as well as a request to disqualify his office from prosecuting the case. Read’s lawyers were set to argue their pending motions Thursday, but they ultimately agreed with prosecutors that pushing back the court proceedings “is in the interests of justice,” according to the joint motion. 

The motion lists several pieces of evidence prosecutors and defense attorneys have yet to receive, including certain forensic test results, phone records, and records of communication between a witness and a Massachusetts State Police trooper who investigated Read’s case.

Yet the brunt of the joint motion focused on the federal investigation into Read’s case. According to the filing, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts indicated in a Jan. 17 conference call that federal prosecutors would soon release information to both sides after completing the Touhy process — regulations concerning the production of federal documents or testimony in litigation where the United States is not a party. 

However, lawyers on both sides said they’re still waiting on that information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The prosecution and defense team argued that even if the information arrives before Read’s court date Thursday, they’ll still need time to evaluate it and modify their arguments accordingly. 

In another conference call with the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Friday, “We were informed that the Tuohy [sic] process is ongoing and they do not yet have an update on the timing of the approval to release information or a date when information will be released, but that they are working as quickly and as diligently as they can,” defense attorney David Yannetti wrote in an affidavit. 

Yannetti added: “Both parties in this case would like more time to receive and assimilate this information before proceeding with the substantive motions that have been filed — and certainly before any trial occurs.”

A judge has yet to rule on the joint motion to delay Read’s upcoming court dates.

Abby Patkin

Staff Writer

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.

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