DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - The judge in the Karen Read murder case on Thursday approved a juror’s request to indefinitely impound the list of jurors who participated in Read’s first trial earlier this year.
The order from Judge Beverly Cannone came after an anonymous juror filed an affidavit saying they are in fear for their personal safety and their family’s personal safety if jurors names are made public.
In explaining her decision, Cannone said she found the juror “is in reasonable fear for their safety and the safety of their family” and established “that there is a continuing risk of immediate and irreparable injury should the jury list be made available to the public.”
Read went on trial beginning in late April after prosecutors said she hit her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, with her SUV and left him to die in a snowbank outside the Canton home of Brian and Nicole Albert in January 2022.
Read’s defense claimed Read was framed, saying O’Keefe actually died after a fight inside the Albert home.
The prosecution and the defense called more than 70 witnesses before the trial went to the jury in late June. After five days of deliberation, jurors said they were deadlocked and Cannone declared a mistrial.
Though the trial ended, the legal saga surrounding Read did not end.
Within minutes of Cannone’s declaration, Read’s defense team vowed to continue fighting allegations against her. And the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office said it would re-try Read.
Read’s defense team has since filed a motion and a series of affidavits arguing the jury actually agreed Read was not guilty on two of the three charges in the case. Citing jurors who reportedly came forward after the trial, Read’s lawyers said the jury was only split on the charge of manslaughter while driving drunk.
The defense has argued Cannone should dismiss the two charges as a result of the agreements, saying re-trying Read on those counts would amount to double jeopardy.
Prosecutors have pushed back, saying the defense’s claims are built on hearsay and saying any agreement during jury deliberations is irrelevant unless it ultimately becomes a formal verdict.
Cannone previously ordered the jury list be impounded on July 8.
Just over a week later, on July 16, a juror identified as “Juror Doe” asked Cannone to extend the impoundment order indefinitely.
In a six-page affidavit, Juror Doe expressed fear of harassment from followers of the Read case, which garnered national attention as it played out in Norfolk Superior Court.
Juror Doe said they could hear protesters screaming and yelling outside the courthouse during deliberations and said they were so concerned while driving home after the mistrial declaration that they pulled over to the side of the road to see if they were being followed.
“Thankfully, I was not being followed,” the juror said, “but that was (and remains) my mindset.”
“If the juror names are made public, we will be constantly threatened and harassed and there will likely be a physical confrontation at some point,” the juror said.
The juror said they read multiple news articles about the case since the trial ended and noted the range of reactions to the mistrial declaration.
The juror went on to note social media posts and blog posts by various people and said “I am aware there have been physical confrontations between the two sides of supporters.”
The juror said their concerns are not limited to any “side” in the case and said their affidavit and motion “should not be interpreted as indicating how I or any other juror voted on this case.”
“It was an honor to serve on the jury,” Juror Doe said. “It was also a significant sacrifice of time, which I understood and anticipated when I was selected.”
“What I did not anticipate, however, was the likelihood that I and other members of the jury would become targets of intense public scrutiny and likely harassment campaigns strictly due to the outcome of our private deliberations,” the juror said.
While Cannone ruled on Juror Doe’s motion, she had not ruled on the defense’s motion to dismiss charges as of Thursday afternoon.
Read is due back in court on July 22, at which point Cannone could set a new trial date.
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