BOSTON (WHDH) - Two juries had two different takes on the case against Karen Read.
Now, a juror from each one stepped forward, saying they both agree Read was innocent.
“I think its a relief that its over for both juries,” said Ronald Estanislao.
Estanislao sat down with 7NEWS to talk about the case he heard against Read.
Estanislao served on the first trial, which ended in a hung jury. Now that he’s heard what “juror Jason” from the retrial, he says it brought him back to the jury room.
“Do I know there was not enough evidence secured by the police to convict Karen Read? Absolutely there was not,” juror Jason told TMZ in an interview.
“It was pretty much the same sort of scenarios that were playing out in my mind as what was most likely playing out in his mind,” Estanislao said.
Estanislao says he more confident than ever about the decision his jury came to. He says they could have made the exact same choices if their verdict slip was changed, like it was for the second trial.
“Because, everybody when we were deliberating wanted something about operating under the influence of alcohol, but not necessarily charging with manslaughter or any kind of injury or death,” said Estanislao.
Putting the two jurors side by side, they agree the reasonable doubt was deafening at time throughout both trials.
“I think it was just due to the poor investigation. There’s just too many holes and its hard to prove that the collision happened. So, if there’s reasonable doubt that it happened or there may have been foul play, if there’s room for that then its hard to come to a guilty verdict,” juror Jason said.
Even though Estanislao says there is a sense of comfort and closure knowing two separate juries nearly landed on the same verdict, he says there is still one thing missing, justice for John O’Keefe.
“Definitely there is closure in terms of the case unfortunately I think there is still a mystery of what has happened and unanswered questions regarding what happened to Mr. O’Keefe,” said Estanislao.
“I don’t know what happened to John,” said juror Jason.
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