Karen Read’s trial is postponed after feds release tidal wave of data on murder case

Karen Read won’t be heading to trial in March, after all.

In a Norfolk Superior Court hearing Monday, Judge Beverly Cannone postponed Read’s high profile murder trial after federal prosecutors turned over thousands of pages of information on the case.

Cannone set April 16 as the trial’s tentative new start date, delaying the original March 12 trial date she set back in September. In doing so, the judge acknowledged that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts only turned over its “voluminous” records on Read’s case last Wednesday.

However, Read’s lawyers suggested that even a month’s delay might not be enough for them to parse through the new data from federal prosecutors and update their motions accordingly. Defense attorney Alan Jackson said an April 16 trial date “is probably not realistic,” noting that federal officials turned over 3,074 pages of information through the Touhy process, which governs the production of federal documents or testimony in legal cases where the United States is not a party. 

Earlier this year, unsealed letters between the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office and federal officials confirmed the existence of a federal probe into Read’s controversial arrest and prosecution, though the scope, purpose, and findings of that investigation remain largely under wraps.

Read, 43, is charged in the Jan. 29, 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe. Prosecutors say the Mansfield woman struck O’Keefe with her SUV while dropping him off at a home in Canton after a night out, but Read’s attorneys have alleged a widespread cover-up, pinning the blame on other afterparty guests. 

Speaking in court Monday, Jackson noted that state prosecutors have also filed a Touhy request with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, meaning more information could be forthcoming. He also forecast several new evidentiary motions and supplementary filings, emphasizing the sheer scale of the newly released documents.

“Through two years of litigation with the commonwealth, … we’ve received a little over 3,200 pages of data. In one day, the defense was given 3,100 pages of data, and none of it appears to be duplicitous,” Jackson said. “All of it is brand new, and all of it, your honor, appears to us to be exculpatory.”

While prosecutor Laura McLaughlin agreed that the material federal prosecutors turned over is “voluminous,” she pushed back on Jackson’s characterization. 

“The commonwealth would dispute counsel’s representation that the material is new information,” she said. “I would say approximately 90% to 95% of the material that we received is consistent with the commonwealth’s theory of the case and the testimony that went into the grand jury of witnesses’ statements.”

Cannone asked Jackson and the defense team to put their request for more time in writing and file it by next Monday. “But I’d urge you to use that time getting ready,” she cautioned.

Read’s next hearing is slated for March 12. 

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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