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Karen Read’s lawyers seek DA Morrissey’s personal emails, phone records
Read's attorneys said they’re seeking “all communications” Morrissey made from his personal email address or cellphone relevant to her high-profile murder case.
Karen Read’s lawyers are asking a judge to order Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey to turn over personal texts or emails related to her murder case, alleging the DA made “improper” statements to court officials.
In one of several new court filings Friday, the defense attorneys said they’re seeking “all communications” Morrissey made from his personal email address or cellphone “that constitute material and relevant evidence” in the case, including messages with witnesses and court staff.
“As grounds for this motion, recent reporting, corroborated by documentary evidence, demonstrates that DA Morrissey used his personal email address to communicate ex parte with Stoughton District Court personnel and judges,” the lawyers alleged.
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The DA’s office declined to comment and said any response to the motion will be made in court.
More on Karen Read:
Read, 44, is accused of drunkenly backing her SUV into her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, after dropping him off at a house party in Canton on Jan. 29, 2022. While prosecutors allege she acted intentionally, Read’s lawyers argue she was framed in a coverup and that O’Keefe was actually beaten inside the home.
Read’s first trial ended in a deadlocked jury last July, and a retrial is slated to begin next year.
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The latest defense motion cites an email Morrissey allegedly sent court officials regarding “Turtleboy” blogger Aidan Kearney, who has championed Read’s claims of innocence and stands accused of intimidating witnesses in her case. Mark Bederow, one of Kearney’s attorneys, disclosed Morrissey’s email in a filing last month.
In that message, Morrissey allegedly accused a member of the Stoughton District Court staff of “leaking” information about a harassment prevention order Chris Albert, one of the witnesses in Read’s case, sought against Kearney. According to Friday’s motion, Morrissey included a text message from another witness, Jennifer McCabe, who said she was “horrified” a judge denied Albert’s request and “disgusted” that someone in the court had allegedly shared the news with Kearney.
Morrissey’s email reportedly indicated more than one witness had reached out to the DA’s office.
“The Commonwealth has vis a vis DA Morrissey acknowledged that it is in receipt of statements from ‘a number of witnesses in this matter,’ which were apparently withheld from the defense,” Read’s lawyers wrote in their motion.
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Morrissey’s statements were also improper, they argued.
“DA Morrissey’s ex parte communication with Trial Court Justices, including the very judge who presided over Ms. Read’s case while it was pending in the District Court — and his demand for ‘evidence and assurance[s]’ that ‘action’ had been taken by the Stoughton District Court — is extremely concerning, and raises concerns about the integrity of this prosecution,” the lawyers wrote.
A motion hearing is slated for Nov. 13 in Norfolk Superior Court.
All told, Friday’s filing capped off a busy week in Read’s case.
Lawyers on both sides filed a joint request Monday to delay Read’s retrial from Jan. 27 to April 1. Then on Wednesday, the Supreme Judicial Court heard Read’s appeal to drop two of her charges in light of several jurors’ claims that the jury unanimously but unofficially agreed to acquit her of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
Last week, a judge agreed to delay parts of a wrongful death lawsuit O’Keefe’s family filed in Plymouth Superior Court, ruling that Read won’t have to give a deposition until her criminal trial concludes.
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