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Karen Read case: Lawyers argue delaying retrial until April will make for a shorter, more efficient trial
On Wednesday, Judge Beverly Cannone heard a joint request to delay Read's upcoming retrial, among other motions.
Where Karen Read’s first murder trial was a prolonged and often administratively messy affair, her retrial could be a smoother ride if Judge Beverly Cannone agrees to a delayed April start, lawyers argued Wednesday.
Read was back in Norfolk Superior Court as Cannone took up a joint motion to postpone her second trial from Jan. 27 until April 1 to give both sides ample time to exchange evidence and prepare for trial.
“Although it does delay the case if you allow this motion, I think it will make for a shorter, more effective, efficient trial, and I think it will be, importantly, more fair to the parties involved,” special prosecutor Hank Brennan argued. He said a delay would also allow him to continue evaluating the case and reduce the prosecution’s witness list “substantially.”
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Defense attorney David Yannetti was largely in agreement.
“I would remind the court that during the last trial, we were still receiving reports and some discoverable material as [the] trial was ongoing, sometimes deep into [the] trial. And we’re really trying to avoid that this time,” Yannetti said.
He acknowledged the court has an interest in seeing the case through to trial expeditiously.
“But in our view, and I would expect in the court’s view, the most important consideration here is Ms. Read’s right to a fair trial,” Yannetti continued. “And in light of what’s outstanding and what needs to be done, we believe she would not be able to receive a fair trial at the end of January.”
Read, 44, is charged with second-degree murder in the 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe. Prosecutors allege she drunkenly struck O’Keefe with her SUV and left him to die in a snowstorm while dropping him off at a house party in Canton on Jan. 29, 2022.
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However, Read’s lawyers maintain she was framed in a law enforcement conspiracy, proposing an alternate theory that O’Keefe was beaten and possibly attacked by a dog after walking into the party on Fairview Road. In addition to her murder charge, Read has pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
Her first trial ended with a hung jury last July.
Revisiting the data from Read’s SUV
On Wednesday, Cannone allowed a defense motion to give the lawyers access to sealed sidebar conference transcripts from Read’s first trial. Sidebars about jurors and juror issues will remain impounded, the judge ruled.
She also heard a request from prosecutors to re-test the telematics system from Read’s SUV, with Brennan asserting the system contains a “plethora” of relevant information that has not yet been downloaded. He acknowledged the state’s new independent expert made an initial “oversight” involving some confusion between gigabits and gigabytes while looking into the matter, though he stood by the expert’s qualifications.
Defense attorney Alan Jackson said Read’s team doesn’t object to additional testing but added that the new prosecution expert’s oversight involving gigabits and gigabytes “gave us pause.”
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“If he didn’t understand that, … we’re concerned that some of the data could be destroyed in whatever process he engages in,” Jackson said.
He requested the defense team’s expert be allowed to intervene if they believe data might be destroyed in the process. Brennan argued giving the defense veto power is unnecessary and would cause delays.
The special prosecutor said he’s still working out a testing timeline but would like to see it finished before Thanksgiving. Brennan also said he feels a sense of urgency because he’s hired an accident reconstruction expert who will need the data gleaned from the additional testing.
Cannone issued her decision later in the day, allowing additional testing and giving Read’s lawyers five days to provide the name of their own expert, should they want someone present.
What’s next?
The lawyers did not argue a defense motion seeking Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey’s personal phone and email records, with Brennan expected to respond to the request in writing sometime next week.
“I want to make sure I err on the side of caution and they get every statement they’re entitled to,” he told the court. “So we’re in the process of accumulating all potential statements of witnesses, which they’re entitled to, and I’m going to provide them to them.”
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Cannone gave Brennan until Nov. 27 for his response. She also scheduled a Nov. 26 hearing on several Rule 17 motions for third-party records, including one from prosecutors seeking phone records from Read’s father, William. Another hearing on Dec. 12 will determine whether defense witness Dr. Marie Russell will be allowed to offer expert testimony. During Read’s first trial, the retired emergency room physician and forensic pathologist opined that wounds on O’Keefe’s arm were caused by an animal attack, possibly involving a large dog.
Livestream via WCVB.
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