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Karen Read retrial: Here’s how much the Norfolk DA’s office is paying its special prosecutor
Hank Brennan's contract runs until June 30, laying out the hourly rate he'll be paid for retrying Read's murder case.
The special prosecutor tasked with leading Karen Read’s retrial will earn $250 an hour, up to a total of $75,000, per his contract with the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office.
Hank Brennan previously vowed to prosecute Read “meticulously, ethically, and zealously, without compromise,” when her second trial begins in January. As special assistant district attorney, Brennan will work side-by-side with the Norfolk County prosecutors who tried the case the first time around, ADAs Adam Lally, Laura McLaughlin, and Caleb Schillinger.
More on Karen Read:
His contract runs until June 30, 2025.
Read, 44, is accused of backing her SUV into her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, and leaving him to die outside a home in Canton after a night of drinking in January 2022. Her lawyers allege she was framed in a law enforcement coverup meant to shield a local family who owned the home where O’Keefe was found unresponsive in the snow.
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Jurors ultimately returned deadlocked, prompting Judge Beverly Cannone to declare a mistrial July 1.
In tapping Brennan for Read’s retrial, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey touted his “expertise handling complex law enforcement matters.” A former prosecutor turned high-profile defense attorney, Brennan’s past clients include the late gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, as well as a Boston police officer acquitted in an alleged overtime pay scam.
Soon after Morrissey’s announcement, Alan Jackson — one of Read’s defense attorneys — ridiculed the DA’s decision to bring an outside lawyer onto the case.
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“The news that Michael Morrissey has decided to use taxpayer funds to hire an outside lawyer to prosecute this case speaks volumes about his confidence in his own team,” Jackson said in a statement at the time. “They can bring anyone they want to court. We will beat this unjust prosecution, just like we did the last time.”
At $250 an hour, Brennan would need to work 300 hours to hit his $75,000 cap. He may get there; between pre-trial hearings, jury selection, and more than 30 days of witness testimony, Read’s first trial was a lengthy affair. From opening statements to Cannone’s mistrial declaration, the entire trial spanned nine weeks.
However, attorney Katherine Loftus told Boston.com last month Brennan may opt for a shorter trial the second time around. She speculated prosecutors may nix witnesses who offered redundant testimony, including some first responders called to the scene the morning O’Keefe died.
“It’ll probably be shortened, in some sense, and we might even have new witnesses that weren’t called,” Loftus said, adding, “Overall, I would not be surprised if we see almost a different type of case presented at trial the second time.”
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