DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - Court filings on Monday detailed a new argument by Karen Read’s defense team to dismiss two of three charges against her.
Read is accused of hitting her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, with her SUV and leaving him to die in a snowbank in January 2022.
Her defense claims she is being framed, saying O’Keefe actually died after a fight.
After months of testimony, Judge Beverly Cannone last week declared a mistrial in the Read case.
The Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office has vowed to re-try Read, prompting new preparations by both the prosecution and the defense.
Within Monday’s filings, defense attorneys said the jury was actually unanimous in deeming Read not guilty on counts of second degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident causing death. As a result, the defense argued those charges should be thrown out ahead of any new trial.
The defense cited conversations with a jurors and friends of jurors in its claims and invoked the Constitution’s “Double Jeopardy Clause” as part of its argument.
Read is due back in court on July 22.
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