Watch live: Karen Read returns to court for hearing on dog bite expert, new retrial date

DEDHAM, Mass. — Karen Read, the woman accused in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe, is in court for a new hearing on Thursday morning after Judge Beverly Cannone agreed to delay the start of her retrial earlier this week.

• Boston 25 News will stream the hearing live starting at 9 a.m.
• Follow Ted Daniel’s live updates from court here

Cannone is hearing arguments in Dedham’s Norfolk Superior Court on whether dog bite expert Dr. Marie Russell will be allowed to testify at Read’s second murder trial.

Read’s lawyers have pushed back on the prosecution’s effort to block Russell from taking the stand in her retrial. Russell previously testified regarding O’Keefe’s arm wounds, expressing her belief that a large dog attacked him.

Prosecutors claim that Russell, a retired emergency room doctor and forensic pathologist, isn’t a qualified expert in dog bites.

Cannone could also set a new start date for Read’s retrial.

In a new filing on Monday, Cannone approved a motion from both the prosecution and defense to push the start of Read’s second murder trial back three months from January to April 2025.

The prosecution and defense have said that delaying the retrial would create a “more efficient” presentation of evidence.

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.

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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.

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