BOSTON (WHDH) - Former federal prosecutor Evan Gotlob said he was not surprised at all Tuesday that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court denied the dismissal of two of the charges against Karen Read.
“This would really just open Pandora’s Box for any time a juror comes forward after a trial, about deliberations. This jury came back multiple times and not one time did they say they decided on the other two charges that Ms. Read’s defense attorneys said should be dismissed, so I’m not surprised at all here,” Gotlob said.
Gotlob said the SJC’s decision is not likely to impact Read’s upcoming retrial in April, for the murder of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe.
“They would have to put the same evidence forward even if only one charge remained. This retrial is going to be a very difficult case for the prosecutors, because they have all the testimony from the first trial, and now they have possible additional evidence that they discovered, and they have a really high standard beyond a reasonable doubt to prove that Ms. Read is guilty of these charges, and they weren’t successful during the first trial,” he said.
Read’s defense attorneys requested dismissal of two of the charges against her, after her first trial ended in a mistrial, claiming that several jurors told them that Read had actually been acquitted. However, jury communications with the judge during deliberations stated they were deadlocked on the charges.
“I’ve done dozens and dozens of trials and jurors have reached out after trials to discuss their deliberations, and you never know what you actually remember from those deliberations and people interpret things in different ways, and for all 12 people to say that they were affirmative finding her not guilty on those two charges is going to be a really hard thing to prove…” Gotlob said.
Gotlob also said it will be difficult to choose an impartial jury to serve in Read’s retrial due to the expansive media coverage and notoriety of the case. The jury will be chosen from same general, geographical area as the first one, he said.
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