Judge approves joint motion to delay start of Karen Read’s 2nd murder trial

DEDHAM, Mass. — A judge on Monday approved a motion from both the prosecution and defense to push the start of Karen Read’s second murder trial back three months, a new court filing showed.

The retrial of Read will not take place until April 2025 at the earliest after Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone signed off on the motion, which was initially filed in November.

In the joint motion, the prosecution and defense argued that moving the retrial from January to April would create a “more efficient” presentation of evidence.

“The joint request will allow both the Commonwealth and defense adequate time to prepare for the trial, accommodate new witnesses, including expert witnesses, will allow for the testing and disclosures by the experts timely before trial, and will result in a far more efficient and streamlined presentation of evidence by both parties,” the new filing on Cannone’s approval of the motion to delay stated.

Days after Read’s first trial ended with a hung jury and a mistrial, Cannone scheduled Read’s retrial for Jan. 27, 2025.

The SJC is currently determining if jurors who sat through Read’s first trial for the death of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe will be questioned about their deliberations. The SJC will issue a written decision that could take four months before it is published.

Read’s lawyers have been fighting to dismiss her second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a deadly crash charge for double jeopardy reasons. Double jeopardy is a legal protection that prohibits anyone from being prosecuted twice for the same crime.

Read is accused of hitting O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving him to die after a night of drinking. The defense has sought to portray Read as the victim, saying O’Keefe was actually killed inside Brian Albert’s home and then dragged outside and left for dead.

Morrissey’s office opposes Read’s bid to get the charges dropped and argues that Cannone was correct when she ruled all of Read’s charges should remain for her retrial.

Cannone recently denied special prosecutor Hank Brennan’s request for phone records from Read’s parents. Prosecutors have also asked Cannone to exclude a medical expert who took the stand in the case’s first trial.

pic.twitter.com/oA5mhLxSre
— Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) December 9, 2024

Breaking: Judge Cannone agrees to delay the start of the Karen Read retrial. It had been scheduled to begin in January but both the prosecution and defense asked to push it back to April.
— Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) December 9, 2024