Crime

Prosecution, defense ask to delay Karen Read’s second trial until April

Both parties asked to postpone the trial until April 1, citing the re-testing of forensic evidence and inclusion of new expert witnesses.

Karen Read listens to her attorney Martin Weinberg who was making motions to dismiss two charges against her in August. Greg Derr/Patriot Ledger, Pool, File

By Molly Farrar

November 4, 2024

2 minutes to read

Karen Read’s trial might be delayed to April following requests filed by both prosecutors and the Mansfield woman’s defense team.

After her controversial murder trial ended in a mistrial in July, Read’s second trial is currently set to begin Jan. 27.

Special prosecutor Hank Brennan and Read’s defense team filed a joint motion Monday requesting to postpone the trial until April 1, citing the re-testing of forensic evidence and inclusion of new expert witnesses.

“The joint request will allow both the Commonwealth and defense adequate time to prepare for the trial, accommodate the schedule of new witnesses, including expert witnesses, will allow for the testing and disclosures by the experts timely before trial, and will result in a far more efficient and streamlined presentation of evidence by both parties,” the joint motion reads.

Read is accused of intentionally hitting and killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, with her car in January 2022. She has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death during trial earlier this year.

The request for a delay comes as the state’s highest court is set to hear opening arguments on whether to dismiss two of the three charges against Read on Wednesday. Her defense argues that according to five of the 12 jurors, the jury reached a final, unanimous decision to acquit her of murder and leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

On Friday, a judge also delayed the wrongful death lawsuit filed against Read by O’Keefe’s family until after her criminal trial, which is still set for January until a judge approves the joint motion.

New expert testimony, including accident reconstruction expert

A biomechanical engineer is expected to testify at the trial for the Commonwealth. The engineer “cannot provide a report to the defense until the forensic testing has been completed, a timeframe that is, as yet, unclear,” the motion said.

In a separate motion filed by Brennan to support the joint request, he wrote that the CV of Judson B. Welcher was submitted. Welcher is a biomechanical engineer who specializes in accident reconstruction and has testified at hundreds of trials, according to his online bio.

The state is also planning to contract more experts who didn’t testify at the first trial, the motion said, and the defense will need time to respond to testing from those experts or contract their own experts.

“I have spoken with the defense,” Brennan wrote in the separate filing. “It is agreed that a continuance is necessary for both parties to adequately prepare for a trial.”