Prosecutors in Karen Read trial say 4 jurors have contacted them with information
DEDHAM - Prosecutors from the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office say they've heard from four jurors in the Karen Read trial willing to discuss information.
Who is Karen Read?
Karen Read is 44-year-old Massachusetts woman charged with second degree murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene. Prosecutors say she hit her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe, with her car on a snowy night in January 2022 after a fight and a night of drinking. Read's defense team alleges she is the victim of a police cover-up, and that O'Keefe died in a fight inside a Canton home.
What happened at trial?
After a ten week trial, jurors told Judge Beverly Cannone they were hopelessly deadlocked and could not come to a unanimous verdict. It resulted in a mistrial and a second criminal trial for Karen Read is currently scheduled for January 27, 2025.
One juror from the first trial spoke to WBZ-TV last month on the condition of anonymity. This juror said that the jury had reached unanimous "not guilty" agreements on second degree murder and leaving the scene, but was "hung" on the manslaughter charge and lesser included charges associated with it. In a final "soft" vote, this juror said the group voted 9 guilty and 3 not guilty, but could not reach a unanimous agreement.
Why are Karen Read jurors contacting lawyers?
In previous court filings, the defense team has told the court it has had direct or indirect contact with at least five jurors, and is using the information gathered to argue that two of the charges Read faces - murder and leaving the scene - should be dismissed. Judge Cannone set a hearing for August 9.
In a new court filing Thursday, the lead prosecutor says his office has heard from four jurors - three by email and one by voicemail. The one who contacted via telephone is the juror with whom WBZ has spoken and received no reply from the prosecutor's office.
In the filing, prosecutor Adam Lally says this lack of reply is because the "Commonwealth is ethically prohibited from engaging in decisions about the jury's deliberative process."
According to Massachusetts case law and ethics code, lawyers are prohibited from inquiring "into the individual or collective thought processes of jurors, the reasons for their decision, or the substance of their deliberations." (Commonwealth v. Moore, 2016).
The Norfolk County District Attorney's Office did reply to three jurors who contact them via email, they say, telling the jurors that they "welcome the opportunity to discuss the evidence or the Commonwealth's case" but are "ethically prohibited from inquiring as to the substance of your jury deliberations" and cannot guarantee anonymity due to disclosure requirements by the court. All three jurors then declined to further communicate, the filing says.
These issues will be discussed in the August 9th hearing at the Dedham courthouse, where Judge Cannone will hear arguments on the defense's motions to dismiss two charges against Karen Read.
In a statement to WBZ-TV, Read's lawyers said, "The Norfolk County District Attorney's Office, in its new filing, finally admits that they have received the same information that the defense has received from sitting jurors: Karen Read was acquitted on two charges, including murder. We now expect that the DA's Office will do the right thing and dismiss, at a minimum, indictments 1 and 3. Of course, our position remains that all three indictments should be dismissed because they have charged the wrong person. Should they persist in pursuing this wrongful prosecution, we stand ready to defend our innocent client no matter how long it takes."
Read the full filing here:
