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‘Smoke and mirrors’: Karen Read takes aim at prosecutors’ case, says she’s willing to testify
Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse Tuesday, Karen Read said she’s open to taking the stand but will ultimately defer to her lawyers.
Prosecutors’ case against Karen Read is nothing but “smoke and mirrors,” the defendant herself told reporters outside Norfolk Superior Court Tuesday.
Read, 44, fielded questions from the media after several defense witnesses faced preliminary questioning without jurors present.
“How do I feel about their case against me? There is no case against me,” Read said, per video from WCVB. “It’s smoke and mirrors, and it’s going through my private life and trying to contrive a motive that was never there.”
More on Karen Read:
The Mansfield woman is accused of backing her SUV into Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, her boyfriend of two years, outside a home in Canton in January 2022. Prosecutors say Read acted intentionally, and they’ve suggested the couple’s deteriorating relationship might have driven her to kill. However, Read’s lawyers allege she was the victim of a widespread coverup intended to protect the Alberts, a well-connected local family.
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Outside the courthouse Tuesday, Read said she’s considered taking the stand to testify in her own defense.
“I’d like to fill in some holes and correct some lies, but it’s up to the attorneys and they’ll make the call, probably at the 11th hour, and I’m there or not there,” she said, per WCVB.
The Fifth Amendment protects a criminal defendant from being forced to testify at their trial.
“I’m an outspoken person, and I’ve never not been able to speak up for myself in my defense, except when it matters the most,” Read reflected Tuesday. She said she’ll ultimately defer to her legal team.
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“I’ve got to rely on them and their expertise,” she added.
Now in its eighth week of witness testimony, Read’s sensational trial has drawn national attention.
Gov. Maura Healey weighed in on the case last week, slamming the “completely unprofessional” texts from a Massachusetts State Police investigator who called Read a “wack job c**t” and “retarded,” made fun of her Crohn’s disease, and said he hoped she would kill herself. State Police Trooper Michael Proctor acknowledged those texts — sent to family, friends, and colleagues throughout his investigation — were “regrettable.”
During an appearance on WBUR’s “Radio Boston” Tuesday, Healey doubled down and called Proctor’s words “disgusting.”
“A kindergartener would know that those things are absolutely unacceptable when you’re conducting an investigation,” she said, adding, “Michael Proctor, he’s an individual. He does not represent the men and the women of the State Police. He doesn’t. I want to be really clear about that.”
In light of Proctor’s crude texts, the Massachusetts Association for Professional Law Enforcement — a watchdog group — called for an overhaul of the State Police.
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“One of the things that upsets me most, both as governor and a former attorney general, is that you have an individual who does things, who says things, who engages in conduct most unbecoming of anyone who’s serving not just in law enforcement but in a public position,” Healey said. “And then it impugns the integrity and the hard work of other men and women.”
The governor also sought to redirect focus to O’Keefe and his young niece and nephew, who lived with their uncle following the death of both parents.
“We don’t talk about the victim’s kids. We don’t talk about the victim,” Healey said. “It’s all been lost in all this other stuff. It’s heartbreaking.”
Boston.com Staff Writer Ross Cristantiello contributed to this report.
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