Karen Read's bid to delay her trial denied by federal judge
A federal judge has denied Karen Read's request to delay her state trial while her appeal to dismiss some of the charges against her works its way through the court system.
Read's lawyers had asked the federal court to delay her trial after Judge Beverly Cannone denied the request on Thursday.
Defense attorneys wanted to delay the trial from April 1 until April 28 because of the logistics of jury selection. They argued that the jury cannot be picked until her federal appeal has been decided because it may change her charges.
Read's federal appeal asks the court to dismiss two of three of her charges, second-degree murder and leaving the scene of personal injury and death. One federal district court judge has already denied her request.
Cannone denied Read's request to delay the start of her trial on Thursday. She said that the jurors had already been called for duty on April 1, and if they are fully seated by April 25, she will revisit the issue with Read's attorneys, and the jurors will not be sworn in. There have been 275 people called for jury duty each day the week of April 1, WBZ-TV has learned.
Messages between Turtleboy and Read
A separate judge will also allow some of the messages between blogger Aidan "Turleboy" Kearney and Karen Read to be used as evidence in her trial. Specifically, pictures, videos, or data showing witness intimidation or family members of a witness will be allowed from April 8, 2023, to October 5, 2023.
Special prosecutor Hank Brennan argued the motion on Thursday before Read's hearing began. Kearney and his lawyer, Timothy Bradl, were present to argue against the matter. Read, and her attorneys arrived partway through the hearing and sat with Kearney and Bradl.
Commonwealth asks for Read and Yannetti's texts
Prosecutors also filed a motion to seek out all texts between Read and her attorney, David Yannetti, between January 28, 2022, and February 2, 2022. They argue that Read waved her attorney-client privilege during that time because she has spoken about their texts and thoughts publicly in interviews.
They used her interview with Vanity Fair, Boston Magazine, and the new five-part docuseries by HBO Max and Investigation Discovery as her waving her attorney-client privilege during that time frame.
Who is Karen Read?
Karen Read is a 45-year-old financial analyst who lived in Mansfield in 2022. She's accused of hitting her boyfriend, Boston Police officer John O'Keefe, with her SUV on the night of January 29, 2022 and leaving him to die in a snowstorm. Her first trial ended in July 2024 with a hung jury.
Read has pleaded not guilty to all three of her charges - second-degree murder, leaving the scene of bodily injury or death, and manslaughter under the influence of alcohol.
Read will be back in court for a pretrial hearing on Tuesday at 11 a.m. Her second trial is set to begin on April 1, 2025 in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts
For a full timeline of the Karen Read case, click here.
