Who will testify in Karen Read retrial? Prosecutors have long list of possibilities

The Norfolk County District Attorney's Office has released a lengthy list of witnesses it may call at the upcoming retrial of Karen Read.

In total, 86 names were submitted to the court.

"The witness list are just potential witnesses, they have to list anybody and everybody they could possibly have as a witness, even though they could reasonably call even half of them," said Peter Elikann, a criminal defense attorney who has been following the case.

Read is charged in the 2022 death of her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O'Keefe, in Canton, Massachusetts. Prosecutors argue she hit him with her SUV and left him for dead, while Read has claimed she is being framed in a coverup.

The first trial ended in a hung jury. She is charged with second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death.

Some jurors have said since the trial's end that the group unanimously agreed to acquit Read on the murder and leaving the scene charges. Her defense has sought to have those charges dismissed — their latest effort was denied Thursday by a federal judge.

Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in the case who is suspended after testifying in the first trial, is still listed as a witness for the prosecution, despite sending disturbing text messages about the defendant to his colleagues.

"It's a very awkward situation for the prosecution, because as the lead investigator, he really sort of has to be called, and then he comes with so much alleged potential baggage that he could hurt them," Elikann said.

State police are deliberating Proctor's future with the department after his third day of trial board processing Thursday.

Read's father, William, is also on the list. Elikann says the prosecution may want to know what Read told him after the alleged crime took place.

"They expect to ask the father about, supposedly, she may have made admissions to him, essentially confessions, and they want to have him on the stand and talk to him about that," he said.

Another notable name on the list is Aiden Kearney, the blogger better known as Turtleboy.

He was not called in the first trial.

He allegedly had lengthy communications with Read — they allegedly spoke for over 40 hours over 189 phone calls before the first trial. Kearney has long advocated on Read's behalf, and stories he's posted have said proceeds go to a fund for Read's legal defense.

Kearney's coverage of the case, which has garnered extensive attention, has led prosecutors to charge him with witness intimidation. He's denied those allegations.

"If he had not been around with his stories, there is a good probability that this would not have been as highly publicized case as it has turned out to be," Elikann noted.

We have not yet seen the list of witnesses the defense plans to call.

The trial is scheduled to start April 1.

Read the full prosecution witness list below: