DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - No demonstrators will be allowed within 200 feet of Norfolk Superior Court during Karen Read’s murder trial.
Jury selection starts on Tuesday at the court in Dedham; demonstrators will be required to stay 200 feet away from the court complex, which includes the courthouse building and the parking area behind the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds building.
Individuals will also be prohibited from using audio enhancing devices, like megaphones, while they are protesting.
Charged with second degree murder, Read, 44, of Mansfield, is accused of backing over O’Keefe outside a home in Canton in January of 2022 and leaving him to die in a snowstorm.
Read pleaded not guilty; her defense team claims she is being framed as part of a police cover up. The defense plans to present security video from the Canton police station.
The case has drawn considerable attention, particularly from supporters of Read who agree with her defense team that she is being framed by the police. Large crowds gathered outside the courthouse during multiple pre-trial hearings.
The court also ordered that no individuals “will be permitted to wear or exhibit any buttons, photographs, clothing, or insignia, relating to the case pending against the defendant or relating to any trial participant, in the courthouse during the trial.”
Law enforcement officers testifying or watching from the audience were also ordered to not wear their uniforms or to display any police emblems.
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