Nineteen jurors have been selected to serve in the Karen Read trial, one of Massachusetts' most closely watched legal sagas, as of Monday, but opening arguments appeared to remain days away.
The jury that will eventually serve will involve 16 people: 12 jurors and four alternates. With 12 selected last week, only four more were needed to fill out the quota.
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Seven more jurors were selected Monday, bringing the total seated to 19. But due to some jurors expressing hardships of some form, empanelment will continue Wednesday.
The defense said Wednesday was the only other day of court on the schedule this week, which suggested opening statements in the trial may not be presented until next week.
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There appeared to be 91 jurors for questioning in the Dedham courtroom Monday, the largest pool of prospective jurists yet. Of the group, 78 said they had seen, heard or talked about the case, 32 said they had expressed or formed an interest in the case and more than a dozen were biased in favor or against Read, who is accused of fatally hitting her boyfriend John O'Keefe, a former Boston police officer, with her SUV after a night out in Canton.
Legal jousting continued ahead of trial as well, with prosecutors responding to the defense on two issues: whether the jury box should be moved to give some jurors a better view of witnesses and whether District Attorney Michael Morrissey should be called as a witness in the case.
Outside the court, the battle continues between Karen Read supporters and the state after the court-ordered that a buffer zone be put in place, keeping demonstrators 200 feet away from the courthouse as well as from holding signs and wearing pro-Karen Read clothes.
Demonstrators have appealed the decision to the Supreme Judicial Court, claiming "the Superior Court had no authority to create the buffer zone outside the courthouse and its curtilage."
The court was expediting its consideration of the case, ordering all filings be submitted by Wednesday evening.
We got new insight Wednesday on how the people who will eventually consider the high-profile charges are being screened.
NBC10 Boston obtained the jury questionnaire from the clerk's office of the Norfolk Superior Court.
The questionnaire includes 29 questions, starting with one that summarizes the case:
"It is alleged that on January 29, 2022, while intoxicated and operating her motor vehicle in Canton, MA, the defendant, Karen Read, killed her boyfriend, John O'Keefe, an off-duty Boston Police officer. Is there anything about the description of the case, the charges, or the that the victim was an off-duty police officer, that causes you to believe that you cannot be fair and impartial in this case?"
Potential jurors have the option to respond yes, no or not sure to that and the other questions, which cover religious beliefs, law enforcement, media attention and if they think Read should have to prove her innocence.
Read the full document here:
Prior to the start of jury selection Tuesday, Judge Beverly 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, admissable 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.
