Karen Read is back in court Friday for her motion to dismiss

Karen Read’s sensational murder case has continued to dominate headlines since her mistrial last month, with some reports suggesting that jurors may have come closer to consensus than initially believed.

As Read heads back to court for a hearing Friday afternoon, the saga continues. 

The 44-year-old Mansfield woman is accused of drunkenly and intentionally backing her SUV into her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, in January 2022. Read’s lawyers have alleged a massive coverup, hurling accusations of biased investigators and sloppy police work. 

Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial on July 1, after the jury said it was “starkly divided” over the evidence in the case.

The defense is now seeking to dismiss two of the three charges, asserting that jurors internally agreed Read was “not guilty” of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a fatal accident. In fact, Read’s lawyers said they’ve heard from five jurors that the jury was only at an impasse on the charge of manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence. 

Lawyers on both sides will argue the motion to dismiss at 2 p.m. Friday in Norfolk Superior Court.

What Karen Read’s lawyers have said

In a series of court filings, Read’s lawyers have outlined the information they’ve received from five purported jurors. 

While the jury reported “deep division” following days of deliberation, several jurors reportedly told the defense they were only at an impasse on the OUI manslaughter charge and its lesser included offenses of involuntary manslaughter and motor vehicle homicide.

In an affidavit filed Monday, defense attorney David Yannetti said one of the jurors — identified in court documents as “Juror B” — “believes that every member of the jury, if asked, will confirm that the jury reached Not-Guilty verdicts” on two of the charges. According to Yannetti, Juror B further opined: “No one thought she [Read] hit him on purpose or even knew that she had hit him.” 

Another juror, identified as “Juror D,” allegedly told defense attorney Alan Jackson they were “uncomfortable” with how the trial ended and felt the last day of deliberations was a “whirlwind.” 

“Juror D said that the jury actually discussed telling the judge that they had agreed unanimously on NOT GUILTY verdicts for Counts 1 and 3, but they were not sure if they were allowed to say so,” Jackson wrote in a July affidavit. 

Read’s lawyers argue that because the jury allegedly reached a unanimous conclusion on two of the charges, retrying Read on those counts would violate laws against double jeopardy. A second trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 27, 2025.

What prosecutors have said

In its initial response to the motion from Read’s lawyers, the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office said the dismissal request was “premised upon hearsay, conjecture, and legally inappropriate reliance as to the substance of jury deliberations.”

Prosecutors asserted that the jury’s notes to Cannone indicated an impasse on all charges, adding: “The defendant’s unsubstantiated but sensational post-trial claim that the ‘jury reached a unanimous decision to acquit’ lacks any merit or legal foundation.”

Yet in a subsequent filing last week, the DA’s office said it has received multiple voicemails and emails from purported jurors who indicated there’s more to the story.

According to the court document, Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally received an unsolicited voicemail on July 21 from someone who identified themselves as a juror and stated, “It is true what has come out recently about the jury being unanimous on charges 1 and 3.”

In a second voicemail on July 26, the purported juror alleged that as of the “last vote,” the jury was “9-3 guilty on the manslaughter charges … on the lower-level manslaughter charges,” according to the filing.

Prosecutors did not respond to the voicemails and said they are “ethically prohibited from engaging in discussions about the jury’s deliberative process,” according to the court document. 

Read’s supporters have remained vocal in her defense leading up to Friday’s hearing. Last Sunday, the “Free Karen Read” movement organized demonstrations in 32 locations, NBC10 Boston reported. Read herself was spotted mingling with supporters in Dighton, where her parents live.