Karen Read trial jurors facing three outcomes - verdict, another hung jury or mistrial
DEDHAM - The jury in the Karen Read murder trial will go back to work Monday, after failing to reach a verdict following nearly 22 hours of deliberations last week.
Karen Read jury
The jury of six women and six men told Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone Friday they were deadlocked and were "unable to reach a unanimous verdict." After a ten-week trial, the judge told jurors they have to keep trying.
Read has pleaded not guilty to three charges in the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police officer John O'Keefe on January 29, 2022 in Canton, Massachusetts.
The jury is deliberating charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene where there has been personal injury and death.
Before jurors can discuss the charges, they would have to agree first that Read actually hit O'Keefe with her SUV that night. If they agree, then they need to determine what is the correct charge is to convict her of, if anything.
What happens with a hung jury?
There are three potential outcomes for the jury. They could reach a verdict. They could come back and say they're deadlocked again and get a special instruction from the judge and continue deliberating. But, if they come back deadlocked for a third time, that could mean a mistrial.
It is the judge's discretion when to declare a mistrial based on a hung jury. Legal expert Phil Tracy said he saw a hung jury coming for Karen Read because the facts of the case are so polarizing. He thinks there will be some results before the Fourth of July.
"I think she will 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 told WBZ-TV.
"Defense counsel (Alan) Jackson has been more or less very cocky about the outcome of this case. He said a lot of times to the press, to you, 'It's going our way, their case is falling apart.' These are exact quotes. I would never do that because I know that juries are unpredictable."
What happens in a mistrial?
If there is a hung jury and a mistrial, it is up to prosecutors to decide if they want to try the case all over again.
"The government would definitely try it again because somebody is dead. You have to, for his family's sake, for his mother's sake, for his children's sake, you've got to go back and try it again," Tracy said.
