Deadlocked jury in Karen Read murder case goes home for weekend without verdict
DEDHAM - Jurors in the Karen Read murder trial went home for the weekend without reaching a verdict. The jury has been deliberating for nearly 22 hours.
Early Friday afternoon, the jury told the judge they were deadlocked and can't agree on a verdict.
Judge tells jurors to keep deliberating
The jury sent Judge Beverly Cannone a note saying, "Despite our exhaustive review of the evidence and our diligent consideration of all disputed evidence, we have been unable to reach a unanimous verdict."
But after a ten-week trial, Cannone told the jury they have to keep trying.
"Clear your heads, have lunch and begin your deliberations again, or continue your deliberations," Cannone said.
Read is facing three charges in the January 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe: second degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene where there has been personal injury and death.
It's the judge's discretion when to declare a mistrial based on a hung jury. Just four months ago, in the same courthouse, under the same judge, a deadlocked jury nearly caused a mistrial in Emanuel Lopes' murder case.
After six days of deliberation, Lopes was ultimately convicted of killing Weymouth police Sgt. Michael Chesna. It was his second trial, the first, a mistrial from a hung jury.
Legal experts predicted hung jury in Read case
Legal expert Phil Tracy says he saw a hung jury coming for Karen Read, because the facts of the case are so polarizing.
"I predicted it, and I will say this. It's a tough case. There's no question about it," Tracy told WBZ.
He thinks there will be some result before the Fourth of July.
"I think she'll have them back on Monday, maybe Tuesday, but by Wednesday it's over for both sides. It's a hung jury. Everybody predicted she'd be found not guilty," Tracy said.
Including Read's own attorneys, Tracy points out.
"Defense counsel Jackson has been more or less very cocky about the outcome of this case," Tracy said. "He said a lot of times to the press, to you, that it's going our way their case is falling apart... I would never do that because I know that juries are unpredictable."
It would be the prosecution's choice if they want to retry the case again if there is a mistrial.
"The government would definitely try it again," Tracy said. "Somebody is dead and so you have to, for (OKeefe's) family's sake, for his mother's sake, for his children's sake, you got to back and try it again."
What happens next?
The jury asked for an extra half hour late Friday afternoon, sparking anticipation of a verdict. Jurors will return to Norfolk Superior Court to continue deliberations on Monday morning at 9 a.m.
If the jurors tell the judge one more time that they're deadlocked she will give them a special Rodriguez instruction.
"That instruction is a big nudge to the jury," WBZ-TV chief investigative reporter Cheryl Fiandaca said.
"Basically, saying this is your responsibility. You have all the evidence, all the tools, all the intelligence. You heard all the testimony. You are able to make this decision. Have an open mind, listen to other opinions... this is not guilt beyond all doubt this is guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."
The judge cannot mention the expense of the trial or the inconvenience of a retrial.
