The judge and lawyers in the Karen Read case on Thursday settled many — but not all — of the issues that were left to decide before the trial, one of Massachusetts' most closely watched legal sagas, convenes next week.
Over several hours in Norfolk Superior Court, Judge Beverly Cannone heard arguments on several matters, including whether potentially explosive lines of argument could be allowed. She's allowing witness testimony on a yelling match between Read and her boyfriend John O'Keefe, a former Boston police officer she's accused of killing with her SUV after a night out in Canton, and held off ruling on whether the defense can refer to pending internal affairs investigations into two of the key police officers who handled the case.
Read and her team have long maintained she is innocent and that authorities covered up who really killed O'Keefe.
The many issues cleared up on Thursday, including more than 10 that the prosecution and defense agreed on, helped clear the way for the trial on Monday. It will be held in a smaller courtroom from the one where the case had played out.
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The court confirmed Thursday that Cannone had granted Read's lawyers' request to move the case across the hall because of poor sight lines in the current room's jury box violate their client's constitutional right to confront witnesses face-to-face.
The trial being in a smaller courtroom will also prevent a large crowd from watching inside — Cannone has said that there will only be space for family in spectators' area, and the court is limiting the number of media inside to 10. However, the proceedings will be livestreamed.
Each side will have up to 45 minutes to give opening statements on Monday. The trial is expected to take over a month, with dozens of potential witnesses on the list to be called.
On Wednesday, jury selection ended after a five-day process. Nineteen jurors were picked from hundreds interviewed, according to the defense, and the group will be whittled down to 16: 12 jurors and four alternates. There was no indication if the group had been finalized by Thursday.
The number of jurors had fluctuated throughout the five days of jury selection, with several allowed to drop out because of hardships.
More on the Karen Read case
Read's lawyers had submitted images of defense attorney David Yannetti on the stand, claiming at least six jurors will only see the back of witnesses' heads.
Also Wednesday, filings were due in the dispute over the court-ordered buffer zone outside the courtroom. Karen Read supporters have appealed to the Supreme Judicial Court over a ruling requiring demonstrators to keep at least 200 feet away from the courthouse and, for those inside the court, preventing them from holding signs or wearing pro-Karen Read clothes.
The lawyer who filed the petition argues that the order violates the First Amendment.
Prior to the start of jury selection last week, Cannone announced that she's not going to exclude the defense from using a third-party culprit defense during the trial.
Prosecutors had filed a motion seeking to prevent the defense from making such an argument.
"I'm going to give you a chance to develop it through relevant, competent, admissible evidence," she said. "But you cannot open with it."
Read is accused of killing O'Keefe in January of 2022. Prosecutors say she hit him with her SUV and left him in a blizzard, but her attorneys say she's being framed as part of a massive coverup. The defense claims O'Keefe was attacked inside the home.
Cannone has said she expects the Read trial to last somewhere between 6-8 weeks once a jury is seated. She said the schedule will include full days on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and half days on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
