DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - Prosecutors in the Karen Read case filed a court document Monday accusing Read’s defense team of giving “selective information” to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Special prosecutor Hank Brennan filed the document as lawyers on both sides were preparing for the start of Read’s second trial in April.
“The Commonwealth has a good faith belief that the defense instigated the now-closed federal investigation and actively participated in providing selective information and materials to the United States Attorney’s Office to attempt to propel and shape the federal investigation,” Brennan wrote in the filing.
That probe was an effort to “police the police,” but no federal charges were ever brought, and Brennan wrote that no target was established.
His motion says two accident reconstruction experts, who were effective for the defense in the first trial, were anything but unbiased.
The jury in the first trial heard them testify that victim John O’Keefe’s injuries were not consistent with being struck by a car.
The defense recently revealed it paid the men nearly $24,000 dollars after the trial ended. Emails indicated the defense talked strategy with the experts while portraying them as completely independent.
Judge Beverly Cannone said she had “grave concerns” when this was revealed.
“The implications of that information may have profound effects on this defense and defense counsel,” she said.
At a hearing, the defense later explained the experts’ report was “set in cement” and the men were originally hired as part of a federal investigation.
Read is accused of hitting and killing O’Keefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend, and leaving him to die in the snow outside a Canton home in 2022. Her lawyers argue she is being framed.
Brennan and Read’s defense team have filed dozens of motions seeking to set parameters for the retrial, including requests for the judge to exclude certain witnesses or testimony.
Pretrial hearings are set to continue Tuesday and Wednesday — the final sessions before jury selection begins.
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