In today’s edition of “Canton Confidential,” we break down another major hearing in the Karen Read case, with the start of the retrial less than two week away — and Judge Beverly Cannone insisting it still start on time.
Here’s what happened — in Read’s hearing and with Aidan “Turtleboy” Kearney’s — what our experts thought of it and an interview with Terry Dunn Meurer, executive producer of “A Body in the Snow,” the new docuseries about the Read case airing on ID.
The Karen Read case returned to court Thursday for a pre-trial hearing.
This happened just a day after the lead investigator on the case, former Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, was terminated over behavior revealed during the first trial.
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Read is accused of hitting and killing her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe, with her SUV in front of a home in Canton in January 2022. She is charged with second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death. Her first trial ended in mistrial last July.
Her defense team has claimed that she is the victim of a massive coverup involving law enforcement corruption and is being framed for the murder.
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Her retrial is scheduled to get underway on April 1 after Judge Beverly Cannone on Friday rejected a defense request to delay the case until April 25.
The request stemmed from a federal appeal in the case. Attorneys for Read have gone before a state court judge, a Supreme Judicial Court judge and a federal judge seeking to have two of her charges thrown out. They have all denied her request, so they have appealed to the First Circuit of Appeals, which has yet to rule. The attorneys in her superior court case say the outcome of that case will impact their strategy.
Cannone said delaying the trial would be problematic because the jury commissioner's office has been working for months to get many jurors available for selection in Read's second trial. She said it could take another 10 weeks if they had to start over.
"We will start April 1 with empanelment," she said in court Friday, after announcing her decision.
Also on Friday, prosecutors argued their request for a courthouse buffer zone, precluding demonstrators from wearing clothing, signs or buttons favoring one side or another. The prosecution wants to give law enforcement the power to arrest violators and expand the zone.
The hearing ended for the day around 3 p.m. The two sides are expected to return to court on Tuesday.
