Karen Read is asking a judge at the federal level to hear her arguments that her upcoming murder trial violates double jeopardy rules.
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’s defense team filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Boston Tuesday that not eliminating two charges against her is in violation of her Constitutional rights against double jeopardy.
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.
Read’s first trial ended with a hung jury and a mistrial. After the trial, some jurors come forward and stated that they unanimously agreed “not guilty” on two counts, second-degree murder and leaving of a collision resulting in death, and were confused by the court’s instructions about deciding on all three counts.
The jurors remained deadlocked on the second count of manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol, Read’s attorneys allege.
Last week, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts denied Karen Read’s bid to get those two prior charges dropped, clearing the way for April’s retrial to proceed on all three counts.
In the 35-page ruling, the SJC stated, “The trial judge correctly denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss and request for a posttrial juror inquiry. The case is remanded to the county court for entry of a judgment denying the defendant’s petition for relief.”
The federal lawsuit comes the same day Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone said that she has “grave concern” over new information shared by the Commonwealth that “may have profound effects” on the future of the Karen Read murder case.
Cannone made the surprise announcement after calling for an unplanned recess in a pretrial motions hearing, abruptly sending the defense and prosecution home for the day.
“The Commonwealth just provided the court with information that causes me grave concern,” Cannone said. “The implications of that information may have profound effects on the defense and defense council.”
Cannone’s call for the recess came immediately after special prosecutor Hank Brennan said in open court that Read’s defense team communicated with ARCCA, accident reconstruction experts originally hired by the feds, about their testimony before Read’s first trial.
Brennan read from what appeared to be emails between the defense and ARCCA and referred to a $23,000 bill that he says ARCCA sent to the defense.
Brennan called it “unfair, imbalanced, and hidden” in open court.
Brennan 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.”
Dr. Daniel Wolfe, an accident reconstruction specialist, and Dr. Andrew Rentschler, a biomechanical engineering specialist, both testified on behalf of Read in June 2024.
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.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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