Woman Accused of Killing Cop Beau Can Be Retried

Prosecutors can retry Karen Read for the murder of her police officer boyfriend, a Massachusetts judge said in a ruling issued Friday, setting the stage for a new trial to begin Jan. 27. Read is accused of drunkenly hitting Boston police officer John O'Keefe with her SUV outside a Canton home in the early hours of Jan. 29, 2022, and fleeing the scene. She claimed she only dropped off O'Keefe at the home of a fellow police officer, where he was beaten during a fight, then tossed out into the cold. A mistrial resulted. Prosecutors had promised to retry the case, while Read's lawyers asked a judge to dismiss two of the three charges against Read, including second-degree murder, per Boston.com.

Defense lawyers cited four jurors as saying all jurors internally agreed that Read was not guilty of murder and leaving the scene of a fatal accident but were deadlocked on a count of manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence. Read's lawyers argued that because the jurors had reached consensus on the two charges, Read couldn't be tried on those charges again. Prosecutors countered that the jury was given clear instructions on reaching and reporting a verdict, and that no verdict ever came. Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone ruled that "where there was no verdict announced in open court here, retrial of the defendant does not violate the principle of double jeopardy," per the AP.

Read's lawyers also argued Cannone was too quick in declaring a mistrial and should have first questioned the jurors. But "the Court finds it hard to believe that when counsel heard that the jury was at an impasse for a third time and a mistrial was inevitable, at perhaps the most crucial point in the trial, counsel would sit silently if they did not consent to a mistrial," Cannone wrote, per Boston.com. "In a remarkable turnaround, defense counsel now argues that the result they twice advocated for was 'sudden' and 'unexpected.'" The Norfolk County District Attorney's Office said the decision was in keeping "with almost 200 years of case law." Read's lawyers said they "fully intend a vigorous appeal." (More murder trial stories.)