Judge tells Karen Read’s lawyers to ‘be prepared’ to explain allegations that cut hearing short

DEDHAM, Mass. — Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone on Thursday told Karen Read’s legal team to “be prepared” to explain bombshell allegations related to two of their expert witnesses that cut Tuesday’s pre-retrial hearing short.

In a notice to appear, Cannone scheduled the resumption of the hearing at 11 a.m. on Feb. 25 and advised, “Counsel should be prepared to address issues related to the defendant’s recent production pursuant to Rule 14, especially as the materials produced related to prior representations made to the Court on the record by defense counsel concerning ARCCA witnesses.”

Two analysts from the multidisciplinary engineering consulting firm, accident reconstruction specialist Dr. Daniel Wolfe and biomechanical engineering specialist Dr. Andrew Rentschler, both testified on behalf of Read in June 2024 and stated that injuries to Read’s Boston police officer boyfriend weren’t consistent with a vehicle strike.

During Tuesday’s hearing, special prosecutor Hank Brennan suggested that Read’s lawyers were more involved than they let on when it came to the testimony of ARCCA crash analysts Wolfe and Rentschler.

In Read’s first trial, defense attorneys told the court that they didn’t talk with ARCCA about their testimony ahead of time. The company was initially hired as part of a federal investigation into state law enforcement’s handling of the murder case.

But Brennan revealed new documents that show Read’s legal team paid the ARCCA experts more than $23,000 and exchanged emails with at least one of them about what they planned to say on the stand.

“I don’t care if the ARCCA witnesses testify at trial. I don’t care about their opinions. But I care that it’s unfair, imbalanced, and hidden,” Brennan said.

Cannone immediately called for unplanned recess after Brennan’s comments.

Upon returning from that recess, Cannone told the court, “The Commonwealth just provided the court with information that causes me grave concern. The implications of that information may have profound effects on the defense and defense council.”

Brennan also recently filed a motion to block the defense’s ARCCA witnesses from testifying in Read’s retrial. In his motion, Brennan said, “Both Dr. Wolfe and Dr. Rentschler admittedly did not review all pertinent and relevant evidence that exists in this case.”

Cannone declared a mistrial in July 2024 after finding Read jurors couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict on all three charges of second-degree murder, leaving the scene of a crash, and manslaughter.

Read is accused of hitting John O’Keefe with her Lexus SUV on Jan. 29, 2022, 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 the Albert family home and then dragged outside and left for dead.

The retrial of Read has been delayed until April 2025.

In an exclusive one-on-one interview on Super Bowl Sunday, Read told Boston 25′s Ted Daniel that she has “nothing to hide” and that she’s “been framed” for murder.

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