As jury selection for Karen Read’s retrial continues — 10 jurors have been selected — her legal team has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, contending that two charges in the case should be dropped.
Legal experts help explain what it means, and we go to the town of Canton, which is reviewing a new audit of the police department, including how it handled the investigation into John O’Keefe’s death that led to Read being charged.
Karen Read has taken her case for dropping two of the three charges against her to the highest court in the country.
Her legal team this week appealed to the Supreme Court to review whether Read's constitutional protection against double jeopardy means the charges should be dropped, given that some jurors have come forward to say they were unanimously in favor of acquitting her on the charges.
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Massachusetts' Supreme Judicial Court and lower federal courts have opted not to dismiss those charges, most recently, a federal appeals court last week.
The filing with the Supreme Court for what's known as a writ of certiorari, listed on the court's docket as Karen Read v. Superior Court of Massachusetts, Norfolk County, et al., concludes:
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In sum, the defense learned post-trial that the jury reached a verdict that was not announced. It was at least entitled to the opportunity to substantiate that fact in order to ensure Read is not unconstitutionally forced to stand trial for criminal offenses, including murder, of which she has already been acquitted. Such inquiry in no way intrudes on the deliberative process of the jury. Such an inquiry instead honors the jury service which the trial court described as “extraordinary” rather than rendering irrelevant the efforts of at least four jurors to disclose that there was not an impasse on all three counts, as contrasted to only one count. Read contends that the Double Jeopardy Clause’s guarantee against successive prosecutions is no less fundamental than, e.g., the Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury and no less deserving of protection, including, whereas here a defendant makes a persuasive and credible showing of an unannounced acquittal, by post-trial hearing to substantiate such acquittal.
The legal filing in Washington comes as jury selection is underway in Read's retrial.
She's accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe, with her SUV in Canton, Massachusetts, early on a snowy morning in January 2022. She has denied the charges, claiming she's the victim of a coverup. The case has attracted intense attention and speculation far beyond Massachusetts.
Read the full Karen Read Supreme Court appeal here:
Asked about the filing on NBC10 Boston's "Canton Confidential" Thursday night, attorney Morjieta Derisier said, "We're not surprised, or we shouldn't be surprised. She and her team are doing everything that they can to protect their rights."
Derisier noted that the filing doesn't guarantee that the Supreme Court will take up the case. Justices will vote on whether to do so.
Derisier didn't know if the court would take up the case for review.
"It's definitely a unique set of circumstances," she said, adding, "It may be interesting to them to review this issue."
But if the Supreme Court does decide to put the case on its docket, then Judge Beverly Cannone would have to put the retrial on hold, Derisier said.
