While the jury deliberated the charges in the Karen Read murder trial Wednesday, court returned to session for defense attorney Alan Jackson to argue that the verdict slips given to the jury weren’t fair to read. The three-minute argument was testy, and ended with Judge Beverly Cannone saying, “This is funny Ms. Read? Alright, we’re done.”
There was a dramatic exchange in Norfolk Superior Court Wednesday while the jury in the Karen Read trial deliberated the charges.
It ended with Judge Beverly Cannone snapping at Read: "Excuse me, this is funny, Ms. Read? All right, we're done."
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Court reconvened about 10 a.m., without the jury present. Cannone asked what they were doing there, and defense attorney Alan Jackson argued that the verdict slip given to the jurors is inappropriate because of the placement of not guilty boxes on the slips.
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Cannone explained that if jurors don't check the guilty block, the verdict reads not guilty.
"That is not how it should be, and it's over our strong objection. They need to see that there is a not guilty option," Jackson said.
But Cannone disagreed and said she thought the verdict slip was appropriate. As she was explaining that to Jackson, she appeared to notice a reaction from Read that she didn't appreciate, leading to her comment that ended the session.
NBC10 Boston obtained copies of the verdict sheets in question:
While the initial exchange was testy, Cannone did ultimately assent to changing the forms — the prosecution didn't oppose the change and Jackson expressed gratitude for it.
When the jury returned to court for a question, Cannone read further instructions about changes they planned to make to the form and what that meant for them.
"We have to indent something and change the spacing to make it a little bit clearer for you," Cannone explained.
Watch the Karen Read trial live on nbcboston.com, NECN, NBC Boston streaming platforms (including Roku, Peacock and Samsung TV) and NBC10 Boston's YouTube page. Every night of the trial at 7 p.m., come back for analysis and more.
Email questions to canton.confidential@nbcuni.com.
