Karen Read’s legal team is weighing its next steps after Massachusetts’ highest court ruled she can be retried on all three charges in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend.
The ruling from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court clears the way for the Commonwealth to prosecute Read on charges of second-degree murder, leaving the scene of a crash, and manslaughter in April.
Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial in July 2024 after finding jurors couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict on all three charges, without polling the jurors to confirm their conclusions. Cannone later ruled in August that Read could be retried on all three charges.
In November 2024, Read’s legal team appeared before the state’s highest court in Boston and formally requested that the SJC dismiss her charges of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a deadly crash for double jeopardy reasons.
One of Read’s attorneys, Martin G. Weinberg, argued that five jurors later said they were deadlocked only on the manslaughter count and had unanimously agreed she was “not guilty” on the other two charges.
In its ruling, the SJC concluded that Cannone “correctly denied” Read’s motion to dismiss and that “posttrial disclosures cannot retroactively alter the trial’s outcome.”
Weinberg said the Read legal team is now considering their legal options, including federal habeas corpus relief.
“While we have great respect for the Commonwealth’s highest court, Double Jeopardy is a federal constitutional right,” Weinberg said in a statement shared with Boston 25 News. “We are strongly considering whether to seek federal habeas relief from what we continue to contend are violations of Ms. Read’s federally guaranteed constitutional rights.”
The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the SJC’s ruling.
Read is accused of hitting John O’Keefe, her boyfriend at the time, 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.
RELATED:
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
