Jury Selection Begins in Retrial of Karen Read for Boston Police Officer’s Death

Jury selection has begun in the retrial of Karen Read, who is accused of causing the death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, less than a year after a judge declared a mistrial in the case.

Read, from Mansfield, faces charges of second-degree murder and other offenses in connection with the death of O’Keefe, a 46-year-old police veteran. O’Keefe was found unresponsive outside a house party in Canton after a night of drinking. Prosecutors claim that Read struck him with her SUV during a three-point turn just after midnight and left him to die in a snowbank, only returning hours later to find his lifeless body.

However, Read’s defense team argues that O’Keefe was killed by someone else at the party—possibly another law enforcement officer—and that Read was framed for the crime.

The original trial ended in a mistrial last year after jurors were deadlocked, with reports indicating that they were unable to reach a consensus on the charges. Several jurors later came forward, saying they had unanimously found Read not guilty of the most serious charge of second-degree murder and a lesser charge. Despite this, the judge decided to proceed with the same charges in the retrial, rejecting the defense’s arguments to dismiss the case due to alleged governmental misconduct.

In the retrial, prosecutors will again attempt to prove that Read’s actions were intentional, pointing to the couple’s strained relationship. Testimonies from O’Keefe’s family members are expected, including his brother, who testified that the couple regularly argued about issues like how Read interacted with O’Keefe’s children. The brother also claimed to have witnessed a fight between the couple in Cape Cod in 2021 and testified that Read told his wife that O’Keefe kissed another woman while they were in Aruba.

Read’s defense team plans to argue that the investigation was mishandled, highlighting the close relationships between investigators and the police officers at the party. One key figure, former State Trooper Michael Proctor, led the investigation but was fired after sending crude and sexist texts about Read. These texts are expected to play a crucial role in the defense’s strategy, as they argue that Proctor was biased against Read and failed to investigate other potential suspects.

The defense will also suggest that Read was framed and that O’Keefe was actually killed inside the house during a fight with another partygoer, before being dragged outside. They will argue that Read became a “convenient outsider” for investigators, preventing them from considering law enforcement officers as suspects.

After the mistrial, Read’s attorneys fought to have the charges dropped, claiming that the jurors had already decided she was not guilty of murder and leaving the scene. They argued that retrying her would violate the principle of double jeopardy, but the judge rejected this claim, as did both the state’s highest court and a federal judge.

The retrial will feature a new lead prosecutor, Hank Brennan, a former prosecutor and defense attorney with experience handling high-profile cases, including that of notorious gangster James “Whitey” Bulger. Experts predict that Brennan’s approach will be more forceful than that of the previous prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally.

The retrial is expected to follow a similar structure to the first, with the same judge, courthouse, and many of the same witnesses. Read’s supporters, who rallied passionately during the first trial, are once again expected to make their voices heard outside the courthouse.