DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - The judge in the Karen Read murder case has denied a motion from the defense to dismiss two of three charges against Read.
Judge Beverly Cannone’s decision was dated Thursday and came just over six weeks after defense lawyers first filed their motion.
“We believe that the judge’s decision is consistent with almost 200 years of case law,” the Norfolk County District Attorney’s office said in a statement. “We are moving forward to trying this case January 27.”
Cannone’s decision will allow Read’s case to move forward ahead of a new trial set for Jan. 27, 2025.
Read was charged with several charges including second degree murder after prosecutors said she hit her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, with her car and left him to die outside the Canton home of another Boston police officer in January 2022.
Her defense has said she is being framed, saying O’Keefe actually died after a fight inside the home.
The Read case drew considerable public attention during its pretrial phase. The spotlight only brightened once her first trial began in late April.
The prosecution and the defense ultimately called more than 70 witnesses before the case went to the jury in late June.
Jurors deliberated but did not deliver a verdict, prompting Cannone to declare a mistrial after nearly five days of deliberations.
The Norfolk County District Attorney’s office said it planned to re-try Read following the mistrial. Read’s defense attorneys said they would continue fighting allegations against her.
As both sides began eying a new trial, the defense said it heard from several jurors who said they were unanimous in agreeing Read was not guilty of second degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident causing death. The defense said jurors claimed they were only deadlocked on the charge of manslaughter.
In various filings, the defense argued Cannone should have handled the final days of the trial differently, saying jurors reported being confused about the process that ended with Cannone declaring a mistrial.
The defense argued re-trying Read on charges of second degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident would amount to double jeopardy due to the jury’s purported agreement in deliberations. The prosecution pushed back, saying deliberations are private and arguing such an agreement would not have amounted to an acquittal since the jury did not deliver a verdict in open court.
Cannone heard arguments from the defense and the prosecution in a hearing late last month.
In her 21-page decision this week, she cited legal precedent in saying the court recognizes “that the bar on retrials following acquittals is ‘[p]erhaps the most fundamental rule in the history of double jeopardy jurisprudence.’”
“However, where there was no acquittal on any of the charges in the defendant’s first trial, there is no risk of subjecting the defendant to double jeopardy on all the charges,” Cannone continued.
This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.
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