The high-profile Karen Read trial is back in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts on Thursday for a full day of witness testimony. Judge Beverly Cannone is expected to start the day by deciding if the prosecution will be allowed to play a clip of Read’s recent documentary appearance for jurors.
You can watch testimony live on CBS News Boston when it begins at 9 a.m. by clicking on the video player above.
Read is accused of hitting her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, with her SUV after a night of drinking and leaving him to die in the snow outside a Canton home in 2022. Her defense says O’Keefe was actually killed during a fight inside the home, then dragged outside. Read’s first trial ended with a hung jury in 2024.
Special prosecutor Hank Brennan, the former Whitey Bulger attorney, is questioning witnesses on direct during the retrial, while Alan Jackson and David Yannetti have been handling cross-examination for the defense.
Karen Read interview clip
On Wednesday, Brennan wanted to play a clip from the recently released HBO Max documentary in which Read says about John O’Keefe’s mother, Peggy O’Keefe, “His mother leans over the kitchen island and says to me, ‘I think he looks like he got hit by a car. He looks like he got hit by a car.”
Judge Cannone sent the jury out of the room before the clip was played after the defense objected. Brennan said he wanted to use the video as consciousness of guilt evidence.
“This clip is obviously, very obviously and strategically being used to try to vilify my client with something that is completely irrelevant,” Jackson said.
“The defendant should not be able to pick and choose which of her statements do not look good for her and do not look bad for her,” Brennan said in response to Jackson.
Cannone did not rule Wednesday, saying she wanted to think over the arguments until Thursday morning.
What has happened this week in the Karen Read trial?
Entering Thursday, five witnesses had taken the stand after opening statements were given on Tuesday to start the trial.
Timothy Nuttal and Daniel Whitley, first responders from the scene of O’Keefe’s death, testified in addition to Massachusetts State Police trooper Nicholas Guarino, who stepped down but is expected to be recalled throughout the trial. Whitley was still on the stand Wednesday when court ended.
John O’Keefe’s mother, Peggy O’Keefe, testified Wednesday, as did Kerry Roberts, a friend of O’Keefe’s who was with Read when they discovered his body.
How to watch the Karen Read trial
Read, 45, has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol and leaving the scene of personal injury of death.
You can watch Read’s trial streaming live from Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham on CBS News Boston or in the video player above.
Click here for a full timeline of events in the case.
Matt SchooleyMatt Schooley is a digital producer at CBS Boston. He has been a member of the WBZ news team for the last decade.
