DEDHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - Attorneys for Karen Read on Monday filed a motion to dismiss charges in light of new information about jury deliberations in Read’s recent trial.
The filing came exactly one week after Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial in the case. After a vow from the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office to re-try Read, her team asked Cannone to dismiss charges including second degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident causing death.
In their 10-page motion, attorneys said they received unsolicited information from a juror who said the entire jury agreed the second degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident charges were “off the table.”
Attorneys said two other people came forward with third-hand information from two other jurors. Citing the third-hand information, the defense said the jury was initially split 6-6 on the remaining charge of manslaughter while driving drunk. Defense attorneys said the jury ultimately deadlocked along an 8-4 vote.
Prosecutors said Read hit her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, with her SUV and left him to die in a snowbank outside the Canton home of Brian and Nicole Albert in January 2022.
Her defense claims O’Keefe actually died after a fight in the Albert home, saying Read was framed as part of a wide-ranging law enforcement cover up.
Read’s trial continued for more than two months between late April and July 1. After five days of deliberations, though, the jury in a note to Cannone said it was unable to reach a verdict.
Before she declared a mistrial, Cannone delivered a “dynamite charge.” Known in Massachusetts as a Tuey-Rodriguez instruction, the charge urged jurors to consider each other’s views in a last ditch effort to come together.
One person told the defense a juror said deliberations got tense when Cannone delivered the charge.
“When the judge sent us back, it turned into a bully match,” the defense quoted the juror as saying.
Beyond deliberations themselves, defense documents indicated one juror said all members of the panel where intimidated by the presence of Brian Albert during closing arguments.
Read’s defense said Cannone should have polled the jury to determine if they were in agreement on any of the counts in this case before declaring a mistrial. If Cannone does not dismiss the second degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident charges, Read’s team is asking that she conduct an inquiry of the jury to get more information confirming the defense’s claims.
7News legal analyst Tom Hoopes said the judge will not do that.
“Because you can’t bring jurors back in and ask them about deliberations once they’ve gone out the door,” Hoopes said. “That’s clear law here and in many states. So, this just isn’t going to happen.”
Cannone set July 22 as a date for parties to return to court to discuss their next steps.
While the defense filed its motion Monday morning, State Police Trooper Michael Proctor faced a duty status hearing after he was relived of duty following the mistrial result in Read’s trial.
Proctor served as the lead investigator in the case and came under intense scrutiny after he testified about vulgar text messages he sent discussing Read. He was suspended without pay following his hearing.
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