Karen Read appeals case to Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
BOSTON - Karen Read's legal team has filed an appeal to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Read wants two of the three charges against her dismissed on the grounds of double jeopardy.
Read is accused of hitting her boyfriend Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe with her SUV and leaving him to die in the snow in Canton in January 2022. Read's attorneys say she was framed, and that O'Keefe was beaten to death inside a home, bitten by a dog and dragged outside to the yard.
Read's trial ended in a mistrial in July due to a hung jury.
Her lawyers argued that multiple jurors came forward after the mistrial, saying they all agreed unanimously to acquit Read of the second-degree murder charge and of leaving the scene of personal injury and death.
Judge Cannone denied motion to dismiss
Last month, Read's new attorney Martin Weinberg argued the motion to dismiss under the double jeopardy principle that says someone can't be tried again after they are acquitted of a crime.
Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone rejected the request writing, "because the defendant was not acquitted of any charges and defense counsel consented to the Court's declaration of a mistrial, double jeopardy is not implicated by retrial of the defendant."
At the time, a spokesperson for the Norfolk County District Attorney's office said Cannone's decision "is consistent with almost 200 years of case law."
A new trial is scheduled for January 27, 2025. Legal experts told WBZ the appeals process could take months and delay the next trial.
