DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - In a final attempt to get her murder charge dismissed, Karen Read is taking her double jeopardy claim to the Supreme Court.
Read’s lawyers want the nation’s highest court to answer two key questions. If a unanimous, but unannounced, decision from a jury can be considered an acquittal, and whether a defendant is entitled to a hearing to confirm that acquittal.
Last week, a Federal Appeals Court affirmed a lower court’s decision, declining to drop two of Read’s charges.
Read’s attorneys say trying her again on second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a deadly crash amounts to double jeopardy.
They claim members of the previous hung jury came forward after the trial and said they were only deadlocked on the manslaughter charge.
The first circuit court didn’t buy it, ruling, “Even if we assume that the jury unanimously voted in private that the prosecution had failed to prove its case on counts one and three, the jury did not ‘act on that view.'”
In their petition, Read’s lawyers argue the appeals court contradicts Supreme Court precedent, which values substance over form, in deciding what constitutes an acquittal.
Back in Dedham, Read arrived at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham Thursday morning for the third day of jury selection for her murder retrial.
Read’s team of lawyers walked in with her. Both the defense and prosecution have made progress towards seating a jury.
Following day three, the court says 10 jurors have now been chosen, five men and five women.
One male juror selected on Wednesday came forward saying he could not serve and was excused by Judge Beverly Cannone. He was replaced by another male juror who was screened by the lawyers Thursday morning.
On Thursday, 40 residents new to the case came in for jury selection. The court determined the maximum number of people that can be questioned.
92% of prospective jurors said they had heard about the case or talked about it. 52% said they had developed an opinion about Karen Read. 10% said they feel biased one way or another against Read or the prosecution.
Cannone previously ruled that lawyers are free to research members of the jury pool, checking things like social media posts. However, they are not to contact or communicate with prospective members.
The prosecution got the green light to call a crash reconstruction expert — Dr. Judson Welcher. The defense fought to block him, arguing his methodology was flawed and his expertise too narrow.
Judge Beverly Cannone disagreed, ruling that “Dr. Welcher has the requisite education, training, experience, and familiarity with the subject matter to qualify him as an expert…”
Welcher was not part of the first trial. Massachusetts State Police Trooper Joseph Paul was the one called to testify about data from Read’s Lexus. He said it showed several rapid accelerations in reverse, consistent with what he called a “pedestrian strike.”
Both Paul and Welcher were named on the prosecution’s witness list for the retrial, but it is unclear if prosecutors will call both to testify.
Read is accused of hitting her Boston police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving him to die in the snow after a night out drinking in 2022. Her defense argues she’s been framed, insisting that O’Keefe was killed by someone else.
Read’s last trial ended in a hung jury.
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