Photo: James Rojas/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rejected a bid from Karen Read's lawyers to drop two serious charges against her Tuesday, affirming a previous decision made by Judge Beverly Cannone.
In a 35-page ruling, the court concluded that the juror's private deliberation without pronouncing it in record in court cannot be taken into consideration as a verdict for mistrial. "Such posttrial disclosures cannot retroactively alter the trial's outcome— either to acquit or to convict," the ruling said.
Read is accused of running over her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, with her SUV and leaving him to die during a 2022 snow storm in Canton. She is being charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, and leaving the scene of personal injury resulting in death.
Read’s defense team argues that she is being framed for those crimes.
In July, the judge declared a mistrial on her case. Her defense team has been trying to get two charges against her dropped after several jurors revealed they agreed she was not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene. The defense argued the only charge that they could not agree on was manslaughter.
Her defense team claimed that retrying her on those two charges in April would be double jeopardy, and therefore a violation of her rights. They filed the appeal to the SJC in November of 2024.
However, Tuesday's ruling sided with the lower court, stating she "correctly denied" Read's defense team's motion to dismiss the charges. "The case is remanded to the county court for entry of a judgment denying the defendant's petition for relief."
In a statement to WBZ NewsRadio, Read's attorney, Martin G. Weinberg, said "While we have great respect for the Commonwealth’s highest court, Double Jeopardy is a federal constitutional right. We are strongly considering whether to seek federal habeas relief from what we continue to contend are violations of Ms. Read’s federally guaranteed constitutional rights."
Karen Read is set to be retried in April on all three charges.
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