OPENING STATEMENTS IN KAREN REED’S MURDER TRIAL. THE STATE WILL LAY OUT ITS CASE AGAINST REED AS HER DEFENSE TRIES TO PROVE THAT SHE WAS SET UP. THE EYEOPENER’S TODD KAZAKIEWICH LIVE OUTSIDE NORFOLK, SUPERIOR COURT IN DEDHAM WITH WHAT WE CAN EXPECT THERE TODAY. TODD, GOOD MORNING. GOOD MORNING. ANTOINETTE AND DOUG. AND JUST IN A MATTER OF HOURS, BOTH SIDES WILL LAY OUT THEIR CASE FOR THE JUDGE, FOR THE JURY AND FOR THE PUBLIC, PREVIEWING WHAT WE WILL SEE AND HEAR OVER THE NEXT 6 TO 8 WEEKS IN THIS TRIAL, KAREN REED IS CHARGED WITH SECOND DEGREE MURDER FOR HITTING AND KILLING HER BOYFRIEND, BOSTON POLICE OFFICER JOHN O’KEEFE, WITH HER SUV OUTSIDE OF A CANTON HOME IN JANUARY OF 2022. SHE HAS PLEADED NOT GUILTY. REED AND HER DEFENSE TEAM CLAIM SHE IS THE VICTIM OF A COVER UP, AND THEY PLAN TO PRESENT THEIR THEORY THAT SOMEONE ELSE KILLED O’KEEFE. THE JUDGE WILL ALSO ALLOW O’KEEFE’S FAMILY TO TESTIFY THAT HE AND REED HAD DIFFICULTIES IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP. NOW, DESPITE THIS BEING SUCH A HIGH PROFILE CASE, THE JURY WILL NOT BE SEQUESTERED, AT LEAST NOT NOW. FORMER MASSACHUSETTS ATTORNEY GENERAL MARTHA COAKLEY SAYS IT WILL BE ON THE COURT TO MAKE SURE THAT JURORS REMAIN IMPARTIAL. IT REALLY IS MORE TRUSTING THE JURORS RATHER THAN TRYING TO SEQUESTER THEM, BECAUSE IT’S A HUGE INCONVENIENCE FOR JURORS. THIS TRIAL IS GOING TO BE A LONG TIME. UM, I DON’T THINK JUDGES SEQUESTER PEOPLE THESE DAYS UNLESS THEY REALLY FEEL THEY HAVE TO. AS TROOPER PAUL WALKED THROUGH HIS ANALYSIS, THE TRIAL WILL BE IN A DIFFERENT COURTROOM TODAY DUE TO CONCERNS FROM THE DEFENSE THAT THE SETUP OF THE JURY BOX IN THE LARGER COURTROOM MEANT THAT SOME JURORS WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SEE THE FACES OF THE WITNESSES TESTIFYING IN THIS CASE. THE TRIAL IS EXPECTED TO LAST 6 TO 8 WEEKS, AND BEHIND ME, YOU SEE THE BARRICADES SET UP HERE AT THE COURTHOUSE, THE BUFFER ZONE, THE 200 FOOT BUFFER ZONE REMAINS IN PLACE FOR THE DURATION OF THIS TRIAL. REPORTING LIVE THIS MORNING AT NORFOLK SUPERIOR COURT IN DEDHAM TODD KAZAKIEWICH WCVB NEWS CENTER FIVE. OKAY, TODD, THANK YOU. STICK WITH NEWS CENTER FIVE TO WATCH OPENING STATEMENTS LIVE THIS MORNING. IT WIL
Live updates: Opening statements expected in Karen Read murder trial
Updated: 6:46 AM EDT Apr 29, 2024
Opening statements are expected Monday in the trial of Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman accused who is accused in the 2022 death of her Boston police officer boyfriend.Jury selection for the high-profile trial began nearly two weeks ago.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.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:6 a.m.: Local and national media is gathering outside the courthouseLast week: Each side requested approximately 45 minutes to make their presentations. The judge also agreed to move the case to a smaller courtroom in order to give jurors a better view of the witnesses. 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 and resulted Wednesday in 19 jurors being selected from a total pool of 401 people. That number will likely be reduced to 16 before the jury is formally seated. 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 filed Monday, the prosecution points out that the courtroom has been in use for over a century and is the largest in the county.Cannone said Wednesday that it is her “firm conviction” that the current layout of the jury box is legal, but on Thursday, repeatedly indicated that the trial would move to the 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 are expected Monday in the trial of Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman accused who is accused in the 2022 death of her Boston police officer boyfriend.
Jury selection for the high-profile trial began nearly two weeks ago.
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.
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:
- 6 a.m.: Local and national media is gathering outside the courthouse
- Last week: Each side requested approximately 45 minutes to make their presentations. The judge also agreed to move the case to a smaller courtroom in order to give jurors a better view of the witnesses.
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 and resulted Wednesday in 19 jurors being selected from a total pool of 401 people. That number will likely be reduced to 16 before the jury is formally seated.
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 filed Monday, the prosecution points out that the courtroom has been in use for over a century and is the largest in the county.
Cannone said Wednesday that it is her “firm conviction” that the current layout of the jury box is legal, but on Thursday, repeatedly indicated that the trial would move to the 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.”
