MAYOR. YEAH. THIS COULD BE A VERY DIFFERENT TRIAL. AND WHETHER READ TAKES THE STAND HERSELF, JURORS WILL VERY LIKELY HEAR FROM HER. I’M PLEASED WE’RE LOADED FOR BEAR. READY TO GET THE SHOW ON THE ROAD. KAREN READ READY FOR ROUND TWO. NOW THAT A JURY HAS BEEN IMPANELED FOR HER SECOND TRIAL FOR THE DEATH OF HER BOYFRIEND, BOSTON POLICE OFFICER JOHN O’KEEFE. THE FINAL JURY IS MADE UP OF NINE WOMEN AND NINE MEN. 12 WILL DELIBERATE WHETHER READ IS GUILTY OR NOT. THE OTHER SIX WILL SERVE AS ALTERNATES. ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THESE JURORS, THESE NINE MEN AND NINE WOMEN? ABSOLUTELY. AND BELIEVE THEY’RE TRUTHFUL. AND THEY WERE QUESTIONED THOROUGHLY. IT TOOK TEN DAYS IN A JURY POOL OF 591 PEOPLE. 88% OF THEM SAID THEY’D HEARD ABOUT THE CASE, AND 51% SAID THEY’D ALREADY FORMED AN OPINION ABOUT IT. IN THE END, JUST OVER 3% OF THE POOL WAS CHOSEN TO SIT ON THE READ JURY, A PROCESS MORE SELECTIVE THAN ADMISSION TO HARVARD. I DON’T KNOW WHAT IF I RAN HIS FOOT OVER? THIS TIME, JURORS MAY HAVE ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE TO CONSIDER. THE PROSECUTION PLANS TO USE REID’S OWN WORDS FROM THE NUMEROUS INTERVIEWS SHE’S GIVEN PHIL TRACY, WHO SPECIALIZES IN CRIMINAL LAW, SAYS THOSE VIDEO CLIPS COULD PROVE A DOUBLE EDGED SWORD. THEY GET TO SEE HER AS A POISED INDIVIDUAL, TELLING HER STORY, SO SHE DOESN’T HAVE TO TESTIFY. AND THAT’S IMPORTANT BECAUSE CROSS-EXAMINATION MIGHT RIP HER APART. ON THE OTHER HAND, SHE DOESN’T COME OFF SYMPATHETIC IN ANY OF THOSE INTERVIEWS. SHE COMES OFF AS COLD AND UNCARING AND WITH NO SYMPATHY FOR THE DECEASED OR HIS MOTHER AND FAMILY. TODAY, REID SEEMED UNDAUNTED. I WOULD NOT HAVE SAID ANYTHING THAT I WOULDN’T SAY AGAIN. NOW. KAREN READ DECLINED TO SAY TODAY WHETHER SHE WILL ACTUALLY TAKE THE STAND IN HER OWN DEFENSE THIS TIME AROUND. HER ATTORNEYS WILL BE BACK HERE AT THE COURTHOUSE TOMORROW MORNING TO HASH OUT A FINAL PRETRIAL DETAILS. WE’
Jury selection completed for Karen Read’s high-profile retrial after 10 days
Opening statements scheduled for April 22
The search for 18 people to serve on the jury for Karen Read’s retrial was completed on Tuesday, after churning through nearly 600 candidates.”We’re loaded for bear,” Read said outside the courthouse. “Ready to get this show on the road and we’re happy with the whole process today.”NewsCenter 5’s David Bienick has counted 591 candidates over 10 days of the selection process. The court was seeking 18 jurors, of whom 12 will end up deliberating and six will serve as alternates. Entering the day, eight men and eight women have been seated on the panel. Two more jurors, one man and one woman, were seated by Tuesday afternoon. “I’m pleased,” Read said about the jury. “I believe that they’re truthful and they were questioned thoroughly.” With 18 jurors selected, that means approximately 3.05% of the potential jurors are being seated. That’s more selective than Harvard College, which accepted 3.59% of applicants to its class of 2028.The court scheduled a hearing for the case on Wednesday at 10 a.m. and set opening statements for April 22. Prosecutors filed a notice Tuesday that they plan to use some of Read’s recorded comments during their opening statements. Each side has 16 challenges or 16 opportunities to refuse a juror without giving a reason. Meanwhile, Read’s defense team is asking the Supreme Court to throw out two of the three charges against her, including second-degree murder. Read argues the jury had privately found her not guilty of those charges.Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson denied Read’s request for an immediate halt to her retrial. The full court is scheduled to hear Read’s appeal on April 25. It would take four of the nine justices to take the case, but that only happens in a small fraction of the cases discussed. Read, 45, of Mansfield, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and other charges. The prosecution says she hit her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with her vehicle outside of a home in Canton during a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022, following a night of drinking. Her defense team argues that someone else was responsible for killing O’Keefe and that Read is the victim of a cover-up.She now has five lawyers in the courtroom with her, including Victoria George, who served as an alternate juror during Read’s first trial. Cannone expanded the area of the buffer zone outside the courthouse because jurors from the first trial reported hearing demonstrators outside screaming and yelling during deliberations. The judge said the zone is necessary to prevent outside influence, interruption and distraction. What to know about the case:Read, 45, of Mansfield, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and other charges. The prosecution says she hit her boyfriend, O’Keefe, with her vehicle outside of a home in Canton during a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022, following a night of drinking. Her defense team argued that someone else was responsible for killing O’Keefe.The defense centered on allegations of a cover-up involving members of several law enforcement agencies. They say O’Keefe was beaten inside the home, bitten by a dog and then left outside.Testimony in Read’s first trial began on April 29, following opening statements. It ended on July 1, when jurors reported being hopelessly deadlocked, and a mistrial was declared.Read’s team vowed to keep fighting, and her defense has waged a considerable battle across multiple courts, attempting to get charges dropped or have the case thrown out entirely. Meanwhile, a federal investigation into the case concluded without any charges being filed against police.
DEDHAM, Mass. —The search for 18 people to serve on the jury for Karen Read‘s retrial was completed on Tuesday, after churning through nearly 600 candidates.
“We’re loaded for bear,” Read said outside the courthouse. “Ready to get this show on the road and we’re happy with the whole process today.”
NewsCenter 5’s David Bienick has counted 591 candidates over 10 days of the selection process. The court was seeking 18 jurors, of whom 12 will end up deliberating and six will serve as alternates.
Entering the day, eight men and eight women have been seated on the panel. Two more jurors, one man and one woman, were seated by Tuesday afternoon.
“I’m pleased,” Read said about the jury. “I believe that they’re truthful and they were questioned thoroughly.”
With 18 jurors selected, that means approximately 3.05% of the potential jurors are being seated. That’s more selective than Harvard College, which accepted 3.59% of applicants to its class of 2028.
The court scheduled a hearing for the case on Wednesday at 10 a.m. and set opening statements for April 22.
Prosecutors filed a notice Tuesday that they plan to use some of Read’s recorded comments during their opening statements.
Each side has 16 challenges or 16 opportunities to refuse a juror without giving a reason.
Meanwhile, Read’s defense team is asking the Supreme Court to throw out two of the three charges against her, including second-degree murder. Read argues the jury had privately found her not guilty of those charges.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson denied Read’s request for an immediate halt to her retrial. The full court is scheduled to hear Read’s appeal on April 25. It would take four of the nine justices to take the case, but that only happens in a small fraction of the cases discussed.
Read, 45, of Mansfield, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and other charges. The prosecution says she hit her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with her vehicle outside of a home in Canton during a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022, following a night of drinking. Her defense team argues that someone else was responsible for killing O’Keefe and that Read is the victim of a cover-up.
She now has five lawyers in the courtroom with her, including Victoria George, who served as an alternate juror during Read’s first trial.
Cannone expanded the area of the buffer zone outside the courthouse because jurors from the first trial reported hearing demonstrators outside screaming and yelling during deliberations. The judge said the zone is necessary to prevent outside influence, interruption and distraction.
What to know about the case:
Read, 45, of Mansfield, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and other charges. The prosecution says she hit her boyfriend, O’Keefe, with her vehicle outside of a home in Canton during a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022, following a night of drinking. Her defense team argued that someone else was responsible for killing O’Keefe.
The defense centered on allegations of a cover-up involving members of several law enforcement agencies. They say O’Keefe was beaten inside the home, bitten by a dog and then left outside.
Testimony in Read’s first trial began on April 29, following opening statements. It ended on July 1, when jurors reported being hopelessly deadlocked, and a mistrial was declared.
Read’s team vowed to keep fighting, and her defense has waged a considerable battle across multiple courts, attempting to get charges dropped or have the case thrown out entirely. Meanwhile, a federal investigation into the case concluded without any charges being filed against police.
