Live updates: Witness testimony begins in Karen Read case after opening statements
Updated: 12:50 PM EDT Apr 29, 2024
Opening statements were delivered Monday followed by witness testimony in the trial of Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman accused who is accused in the 2022 death of her Boston police officer boyfriend.Read, 43, of Mansfield, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and other charges. The prosecution says she hit her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, with her vehicle outside of a home in Canton during a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022, following a night of drinking.“The defendant, Karen Read, is guilty of murder in the second degree. Striking of the victim, Mr. O’Keefe, with a car, knocking him back on to the ground, striking his head on the ground, causing the bleeding in his brain, swelling and then leaving him there,” said prosecutor Adam Lally. “Karen Read was framed. Her car never struck John O’Keefe. She did not cause his death. And that means that somebody else did it,” said defense attorney David Yannetti.Her defense has long centered on allegations of a cover-up involving members of several law enforcement agencies. They claim O’Keefe was beaten inside the home, bitten by a dog, and then left outside. Judge Beverly Cannone ruled Thursday that the defense will be allowed to argue that someone else killed O’Keefe, but not during opening statements.Live Updates:12:14 p.m. Prosecution calls Paul O’Keefe as its first witness. He chokes up before saying John O’Keefe’s was his brother. “We all called him Johnny,” says Paul O’Keefe. He says his sister Kristen passed away from a brain tumor in 2013. Her husband Steven died two months later in January 2014. They left behind two children, ages 6 and 3, who John cared for.11:11 a.m.: Defense attorney David Yannetti begins opening statement with, “Karen Read was framed.”10:33 a.m.: Prosecutor Adam Lally delivers opening statement, says DNA evidence from bumper, taillight will be presented 10:25 a.m.: Of the 17 jurors, 12 will decide the verdict. Individual jurors do not know if they are alternates 10:12 a.m.: Jurors enter the courtroom and are sworn in by the court clerk9:39 a.m.: Read enters the courtroom with her attorneys and family members, who are wearing pink as a show of support8:36 a.m.: Troopers are posted along High Street. Read supporters are assembled outside of the buffer zoneFollow Trial: Live Updates from CourtWhat to know about the case:Karen Read, 43, of Mansfield, is accused of second-degree murder and other charges. The prosecution says she hit her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, with her vehicle outside of a home in Canton during a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022, following a night of drinking. She has pleaded not guilty.Read and her defense team claim she is the victim of a cover-up and plan to present a third-party culprit defense. They claim O’Keefe was beaten inside the home, bitten by a dog, and then left outside.In pretrial motions, prosecutors revealed the existence of text messages they said suggested a “romantic entanglement” with a friend who was present at locations Read and O’Keefe visited on the night of the incident. Other documents have also suggested trouble in the relationship between Read and O’Keefe.Read is also accused of having frequent contact with a controversial blogger known as “Turtleboy,” Aiden Kearney, who now faces charges in related cases.The trial is expected to last 6-8 weeks once a jury is seated.The jury selection process for the case spanned five days of work in the courtroom. Seventeen jurors were chosen — seven women and 10 men.Last week, her attorneys filed a motion arguing that the current layout of the Norfolk County Superior Courtroom would violate her constitutional right to confrontation because several members of the jury will be unable to see the faces of witnesses. In a response, the prosecution points out that the courtroom has been in use for over a century and is the largest in the county.Follow Trial: Live Updates from CourtAlthough Cannone said it was her “firm conviction” that the current layout of the jury box was legal, the trial was moved to a smaller courtroom. According to court documents, prosecutors plan to call up to 87 witnesses during the trial. The defense plans to call up to 77. Some names appear on both lists.Ahead of the trial, which has brought contentious debate and protest, the judge ordered a “buffer zone” around the courthouse. A justice of the Supreme Judicial Court upheld the decision, but that ruling is also under appeal, with the SJC agreeing to hear the case “on an expedited basis.”
Opening statements were delivered Monday in the trial of Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman accused who is accused in the 2022 death of her Boston police officer boyfriend.
Read, 43, of Mansfield, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and other charges. The prosecution says she hit her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, with her vehicle outside of a home in Canton during a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022, following a night of drinking.
“The defendant, Karen Read, is guilty of murder in the second degree. Striking of the victim, Mr. O’Keefe, with a car, knocking him back on to the ground, striking his head on the ground, causing the bleeding in his brain, swelling and then leaving him there,” said prosecutor Adam Lally.
“Karen Read was framed. Her car never struck John O’Keefe. She did not cause his death. And that means that somebody else did it,” said defense attorney David Yannetti.
Her defense has long centered on allegations of a cover-up involving members of several law enforcement agencies. They claim O’Keefe was beaten inside the home, bitten by a dog, and then left outside.
Judge Beverly Cannone ruled Thursday that the defense will be allowed to argue that someone else killed O’Keefe, but not during opening statements.
- 12:14 p.m. Prosecution calls Paul O’Keefe as its first witness. He chokes up before saying John O’Keefe’s was his brother. “We all called him Johnny,” says Paul O’Keefe. He says his sister Kristen passed away from a brain tumor in 2013. Her husband Steven died two months later in January 2014. They left behind two children, ages 6 and 3, who John cared for.
- 11:11 a.m.: Defense attorney David Yannetti begins opening statement with, “Karen Read was framed.”
- 10:33 a.m.: Prosecutor Adam Lally delivers opening statement, says DNA evidence from bumper, taillight will be presented
- 10:25 a.m.: Of the 17 jurors, 12 will decide the verdict. Individual jurors do not know if they are alternates
- 10:12 a.m.: Jurors enter the courtroom and are sworn in by the court clerk
- 9:39 a.m.: Read enters the courtroom with her attorneys and family members, who are wearing pink as a show of support
- 8:36 a.m.: Troopers are posted along High Street. Read supporters are assembled outside of the buffer zone
- Follow Trial: Live Updates from Court
What to know about the case:
- Karen Read, 43, of Mansfield, is accused of second-degree murder and other charges. The prosecution says she hit her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, with her vehicle outside of a home in Canton during a snowstorm on Jan. 29, 2022, following a night of drinking. She has pleaded not guilty.
- Read and her defense team claim she is the victim of a cover-up and plan to present a third-party culprit defense. They claim O’Keefe was beaten inside the home, bitten by a dog, and then left outside.
- In pretrial motions, prosecutors revealed the existence of text messages they said suggested a “romantic entanglement” with a friend who was present at locations Read and O’Keefe visited on the night of the incident. Other documents have also suggested trouble in the relationship between Read and O’Keefe.
- Read is also accused of having frequent contact with a controversial blogger known as “Turtleboy,” Aiden Kearney, who now faces charges in related cases.
- The trial is expected to last 6-8 weeks once a jury is seated.
The jury selection process for the case spanned five days of work in the courtroom. Seventeen jurors were chosen — seven women and 10 men.
Last week, her attorneys filed a motion arguing that the current layout of the Norfolk County Superior Courtroom would violate her constitutional right to confrontation because several members of the jury will be unable to see the faces of witnesses. In a response, the prosecution points out that the courtroom has been in use for over a century and is the largest in the county.
Follow Trial: Live Updates from Court
Although Cannone said it was her “firm conviction” that the current layout of the jury box was legal, the trial was moved to a smaller courtroom.
According to court documents, prosecutors plan to call up to 87 witnesses during the trial. The defense plans to call up to 77. Some names appear on both lists.
Ahead of the trial, which has brought contentious debate and protest, the judge ordered a “buffer zone” around the courthouse. A justice of the Supreme Judicial Court upheld the decision, but that ruling is also under appeal, with the SJC agreeing to hear the case “on an expedited basis.”
