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DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - The jury in the Karen Read retrial began deliberating after the prosecution and defense made their closing arguments Friday.
Alan Jackson gave the argument for the defense, while Hank Brennan gave the argument for the prosecution.
Seven women and five men left the courtroom Friday afternoon to begin their deliberations. Four men and two women will be kept in a separate room as alternates.
Read, 45, is accused of killing Boston police officer John O’Keefe, her boyfriend, by backing into him with her car after a night of drinking and leaving him to die in the snow in January 2022. Read’s defense argues she is being framed in a police coverup.
Read’s team abandoned its third party culprit defense in the retrial.
Alan Jackson did not mention Brian Albert or his friend Brian Higgins, however, he did blame state police for not investigating them.
Jackson told jurors they are the last line of defense and urged them to find Read not guilty.
“There was no collision,” said Jackson. “All you need to know is the commonwealth failed. They failed to provide you with the truthful representation. They failed to prove the essence of their case that John was even hit by a car to begin with. They failed to prove any intent on the part of Karen Read because she has none. They failed to investigate the actual suspects in this case. They failed to present the lead investigator to you. They failed to provide the perjured testimony that you heard discussed in this case. They failed to hold accountable a police officer that came in here and lied to you and claimed ‘false memories’ so she could do the right thing to cover for a fellow cop, or cops. They failed to maintain an honest and unbiased investigation. They failed to present you with the truth.”
Prosecutor Hank Brennan argued to the jury it was the defendant and no one else who killed Boston police officer John O’Keefe after hitting him with her car and left him to die in the snow.
Brennan played interviews Read gave leading up to the trial, reminding jurors that even Read herself suggested she did it.
After an hour and 15 minutes, Brennan told jurors there’s only one conclusion that can be drawn from this eight-week trial.
“John O’Keefe seemed to be the type of person who would help anyone at anytime,” said Brennan. “And on January 29, 2022, he needed some help. He needed help from somebody else. See, John O’Keefe had just been hit by Karen Read outside of 34 Fairview Road. And he lay on the ground, dying. There was only one person on this entire planet who could help him… Maybe it was a 33% chance… But to give him a chance. And that one person that could help him was this defendant right here, Karen Read. In her Lexus, she drove away. She was drunk, she hit him, and left him to die. She was drunk, she hit him, and left him to die.”
Former prosecutor Evan Gotlob spoke with 7NEWS about the final arguments.
“The defense picked on what wasn’t there, and the prosecutor focused on what was there,” said Gotlob.
Gotlob said Brennan, “did a very good job of going step by step through the process, which matters a lot in a case that’s so long because the jury doesn’t remember all this stuff.”
For the defense, Gotlob says the case has always been about what wasn’t there. Jackson arguing O’Keefe’s injuries were inconsistent with being struck by a car as prosecutors allege.
“That’s the best point that they made in the summation and you really only need to hit one person. You know this is a retrial,” Gotlob said.
Gotlob adds that prosecutors were able to use her words against her throughout the whole trial, and again on Friday in their closing arguments.
Read’s first trial ended in a hung jury.
On Thursday, the prosecution and defense appeared in court to work out the jury rules and instructions.
Watch the defense’s closing argument here.
Watch the prosecution’s closing argument here.
This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.
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