Prosecutors say defense is ‘poisoning' Karen Read jury pool in call for gag order

A busy week in the Karen Read case got underway on Tuesday.

Prosecutors in the murder trial against Karen Read are asking Judge Beverly Cannone issue a gag order for defense attorneys.

"The ongoing, deliberate, purposeful poisoning of the potential jury pool is not only wrong and unfair — it needs to be stopped," said Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan with the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office.

The order wouldn't apply to the 45-year-old defendant, who's pleaded not guilty to charges in the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe, in 2022. She's accused of fatally hitting him with her SUV in Canton, Massachusetts, before fleeing the scene, while she has alleged she's been framed in a coverup involving law enforcement.

"I like talking. I like to reveal the truth," Read said after court Tuesday.

The prosecution's request came after the defense released a text message — apparently inadvertently — from embattled Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, despite court orders to the contrary.

"It just did not register with me. It got by me," said defense attorney David Yanetti.

The defense is asking to keep a dog bite expert for the state off the stand, arguing Dr. James Crosby isn't qualified to offer a medical opinion about the scratches on O'Keefe's arm. Read's attorneys say they were caused not by Read's SUV, but by a dog.

The prosecution has called the suggestion absurd, saying its expert is qualified and has taken a mold of the dog's teeth.

"There is no requisite that an expert in this field needs to be a medical doctor," Brennan said.

The prosecution is also looking to call a meteorologist to the stand to talk about the weather the night O'Keefe died.

Canton Police Chief Helena Rafferty said in a statement Tuesday that the federal investigation into O'Keefe's death had been completed.

"I recently spoke to and was informed by the US Attorney's office, that ALL ASPECTS of the federal investigation, initiated by her predecessor and related to the death of John O'Keefe, have been completed," Rafferty wrote. "The investigation is no longer active and will be closed. Due to ethical limitations, I cannot comment further."

Also on the docket this week are a federal appeals court hearing Wednesday and two more hearings before Cannone in Norfolk Superior Court on Wednesday and Friday to address, among other things, outstanding issues including defense requests for data and video of the defendant’s SUV inside the Canton Police Department. Her attorneys say the video’s been withheld and manipulated as part of a conspiracy to frame their client, resulting in "extraordinary governmental misconduct."

"This week will shape what’s to come for the trial," NBC10 Boston legal analyst Michael Coyne said.

The prosecution has moved to keep a pair of accident reconstruction experts for the defendant from testifying. It claims the defense misled the court about its relationship with the experts in the initial trial. Coyne characterized the situation as "an extraordinary amount of skirmishes" over legal issues with the trial looming.

Cannone will have to decide if attorneys will face sanctions, and Coyne said that, if Read's "are sanctioned to the point where they cannot participate in the retrial, I would expect an appeal, which will bring a delay."

He also called the federal appeal, of the Supreme Judicial Court's ruling that retrying Read doesn't amount to double jeopardy, as "a real Hail Mary" relying on the idea that a "federal court will involve themselves in a pending state court matter."