The judge in the Karen Read murder trial abruptly ended proceedings yesterday following a tense outburst in the courtroom.
Judge Beverly Cannone adjourned the session trial, citing “evidence” that she claimed changed everything, without revealing its details, Boston.com reports Boston.com reports.
Read is charged with hitting her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with her SUV while drunk in January 2022, then leaving him to die in a snowstorm.
Read asserted her innocence, claiming she was framed by her boyfriend’s police friends.
Before Judge Cannone called an unexpected recess, special prosecutor Hank Brennan revealed that Read’s defense team consulted with accident reconstruction experts from ARCCA Inc., hired by the FBI, about their testimony for her first trial.
Brennan presented emails between the defense and ARCCA, pointing out a $23,925 bill that 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.”
Judge Cannone, visibly trembling, then addressed the bombshell payment request.
“The commonwealth just provided the court with information that causes me grave concern.”
As CrineOnlibe previouslly reported, in July, a jury failed to reach a verdict on two charges — murder and leaving the scene of a fatal accident — against Read. Though some of the jurors expressed, after the mistrial, that they were not as divided over a verdict as it seemed, Justice Serge Georges Jr. wrote that “posttrial disclosures cannot retroactively alter the trial’s outcome,” per Boston.com.
Following multiple rounds of deliberations, the jury informed the court they remained “deeply divided by fundamental differences in our opinions and state of mind.” They noted that this division was not the result of confusion or misunderstanding, but “deeply held convictions” that would make it impossible to reach a unanimous verdict.
The Boston Globe reported that weeks after the mistrial, multiple jurors came forward and claimed they unanimously agreed to acquit Read on two charges, murder and leaving the scene of an accident. Their claims would directly contradict notes sent to the judge, stating they were hopelessly deadlocked.
Meanwhile, the latest hearing is expected to resume at 11 a.m. on February 25.
Check back for updates.
