Judge Beverly Cannone abruptly ended a hearing before the retried murder case of Karen Read on Tuesday after new information gave her ‘grave concern.’
Before Cannone called for the unplanned recess, special prosecutor Hank Brennan revealed in court that Read’s defense team had communicated with accident reconstruction experts from ARCCA Inc. hired by the FBI about their testimony before Read’s first trial.
Brennan read what appeared to be emails between the defense and ARCCA and pointed out a $23,925 bill that he said the ARCCA sent to the defense.
‘The commonwealth, as I understand it, was not aware of any promised rewards or inducements or payments,’ Brennan said. ‘They relied on a reciprocal discovery order of this court for that information.’
Calling out the bombshell payment request on Tuesday, Cannone, who was visibly trembling as she spoke, said: ‘The commonwealth just provided the court with information that causes me grave concern.
‘The implications of that information may have profound effects on this defense and defense counsel.
‘So, for that reason, I’m going to suspend today so that when we meet again to address these issues, all affected will be appropriately prepared.’
Judge Cannone had previously declared a mistrial in July of last year after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict before ruling in August that Read, who appeared in court again on Tuesday for the pretrial motions hearing, could be retried on all three charges.
Shaking Judge Beverly Cannone abruptly ended Karen Read’s motions hearing on Tuesday after new information gave her ‘grave concern.’ She said: ‘The commonwealth just provided the court with information that causes me grave concern. The implications of that information may have profound effects on this defense and defense counsel’
Karen Read, 44, appeared in court again on Tuesday during a motions hearing ahead of her retrial after she was accused of second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene of a fatal accident in the death of her boyfriend John O’Keefe
Judge Cannone declared a mistrial in July of last year after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict. Cannone then ruled in August Read could be retried on all three charges
Within the emails, the ARCCA’s director of accident reconstruction Daniel Wolfe also praised defense attorney Alan Jackson’s questioning and allegedly wrote, ‘if you don’t want me to say this, that’s fine,’ Boston.com reported.
‘That’s not trial by ambush, that’s getting duped,’ Brennan said. ‘I don’t care if the ARCCA witnesses testify at trial. I don’t care about their opinions. But I care that it’s unfair, imbalanced, and hidden.’
The hearing is set to continue on February 25.
Read also filed a habeas corpus claim in US District Court in Boston on Tuesday and asked for two of her charges to be dismissed.
Last week, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rejected the motion to dismiss both counts after Read’s lawyers argued jurors in her first trial unofficially agreed to acquit her of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a fatal accident, Boston.com reported.
The defense also argued that a retrial on all charges would violate Read’s double jeopardy protections.
Read was accused of second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene of crime after her boyfriend John O’Keefe’s death.
She was accused of ramming her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV while drunk in January 2022 before leaving him to die in a snowstorm.
Special prosecutor Hank Brennan said in open court that Read’s defense team communicated with accident reconstruction experts hired by the federal agency about their testimony before Read’s first trial. Brennan read what appeared to be emails between the defense and ARCCA and pointed out a $23,925 bill that he said the ARCCA sent to the defense
Read was accused of ramming her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV while drunk in January 2022 before leaving him to die in a snowstorm
Read’s attorneys argued that investigators focused on Read because she was a ‘convenient outsider’ who saved them from having to consider law enforcement officers as suspects
O’Keefe, according to autopsy results, died from hypothermia and blunt force trauma.
Read’s attorneys have portrayed her as the victim, saying O’Keefe was actually killed inside Albert’s home and then dragged outside.
They argued that investigators focused on Read because she was a ‘convenient outsider’ who saved them from having to consider law enforcement officers as suspects.
Read’s defense said their theory that she was framed in a vast police conspiracy was supported by texts Proctor wrote about Read, which he was forced to read aloud in court last summer.
In the messages, Proctor called Read a ‘whack job’ and a ‘c**t’ and referred to her as a ‘babe’ with ‘no a**,’ while also making light of her ‘Fall River accent’.
In other messages, he joked about rummaging through her phone for nude photos during the investigation.
Proctor claimed that ‘these juvenile, unprofessional comments had zero impact on the facts, the evidence and the integrity of the investigation’.
Read’s attorney Martin Weinberg argued that five jurors later said they were deadlocked only on the manslaughter count.
Read’s defense said their theory that she was framed in a vast police conspiracy was supported by texts Proctor wrote about Read, which he was forced to read aloud in court last summer. In the messages, Proctor called Read a ‘whack job’ and a ‘c**t’ and referred to her as a ‘babe’ with ‘no a**,’ while also making light of her ‘Fall River accent’
Prosecutors maintained there’s no basis for dismissing the charges of second-degree murder and leaving the scene. They argued that her lawyers should have sensed a mistrial was ‘inevitable or unavoidable’ and that they had every opportunity to be heard in the trial courtroom
He added that they unanimously agreed in the jury room that she wasn’t guilty on the charges of second-degree murder and leaving the scene.
But they hadn’t told the judge.
Read told Boston 25 News that she’s ready for a second trial and isn’t worried about who’s on the prosecution team.
‘I don’t care who I face,’ she told the station. ‘I have the truth. I have the best attorneys. Do your worst.’
Read could end up in prison — a fate she said she ‘thinks about that every day,’ but she said, ‘It doesn’t frighten me the way it did three years ago.’
Weinberg had urged the court to allow an evidentiary hearing where jurors could be asked whether they had reached final not guilty verdicts on any of the charges.
Prosecutors maintained there’s no basis for dismissing the charges of second-degree murder and leaving the scene.
They argued that her lawyers should have sensed a mistrial was ‘inevitable or unavoidable’ and that they had every opportunity to be heard in the trial courtroom.
