Attorneys in the Karen Read case returned to the Norfolk Superior Court Wednesday to discuss a series of motions ahead of the upcoming trial, including a request from both sides to push the trial start date back.
Karen Read was represented Wednesday by attorneys Alan Jackson, David Yanetti and Elizabeth Little. The Commonwealth was represented by special prosecutor Hank Brennan, who has taken over the case.
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Karen Read is accused of ramming into her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with her SUV and leaving him to die in a snowstorm in January 2022. Her attorneys argue she is being framed and that other law enforcement officers are responsible for O’Keefe’s death.
A judge declared a mistrial in June after finding that jurors couldn’t reach an agreement. A retrial on the same charges is set to begin in January.
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Several motions were discussed Wednesday, including a request to unseal sidebar conference transcripts from the first trial to counsel, a question of retesting systems from Read’s vehicle, a request for phone records, and a request to move the start of the trial back.
Though it wasn't discussed at length Wednesday, a new 27-page filing submitted Tuesday details a request for a judge to deny prosecutors access to William Read's cellphone records.
Prosecutors for the Karen Read murder trial are adamant that William Read made conflicting statements about his daughter that they think are hidden somewhere in his calls or texts.
Read's defense refers to the request for William Read's phone records as a "fishing expedition," stating in pleadings that Massachusetts State Police have already searched his phone, they never called him as witness in first trial and it is also an invasion of her privacy.
The motion will be revisited at a later date — there were third parties involved that still needed to be notified before further action can be discussed.
In the new filings, prosecutors are asking for several local media outlets, including NBC10 Boston, to hand over all video and audio recordings involving Read. They are also seeking any emails and text messages between Read and staff at NBC, and video that aired on our show, "Canton Confidential," and copies of any raw footage that did not make air.
Prosecutors are also asking for "complete video and audio record of all interviews between the defendant and Dateline News Correspondent Dennis Murphy" from a special that aired last month.
Retesting was also discussed Wednesday, with the prosecution asking that they be allowed to move forward swiftly on the testing. They believe the testing done for the initial trial used the wrong reader for the information, meaning it was not interpreted properly. With new experts in place from both the prosecution and defense, Brennan said his investigators are seeking more information, including things like which phones were plugged into the car's system and travel logs, that could be relevant to the case.
The defense was not opposed to further testing, but is pushing to have their own expert present at the time. They are also asking that this expert be given the right to halt proceedings if there are concerns about potentially destructive testing to the chips, citing a prosecution expert's previous misunderstanding of the data. The prosecution argued they had the right to the testing, including the appropriate search warrant, and the defense should not be able to stop the process.
Both sides were concerned about timing, with their plans to bring in new experts and do additional testing meaning significant discovery is still to be done. They have filed a joint request to move back from the currently scheduled trial state date of Jan. 27, 2025, to April 1.
Making his first court appearance in the case, Brennan said the delay to gather more information and evidence would make for a shorter and more efficient trial.
"It will allow me when I evaluated this case, which I’m still in the process of doing, of reducing the witness lists substantially," Brennan said.
Read's attorneys were in support of the delay.
“During the last trial we were still receiving reports and some discoverable material as trial was ongoing and sometimes deep into trial. And we’re really trying to avoid that this time. It’s really not fair to Ms. Read that discovery is not complete well in advance of trial," Yanetti said in court.
Judge Beverly Cannone pressed them to move quickly, taking action to schedule additional hearings and making no final call on the request to move the trial.
All other matters discussed are also under advisement.
Read left court saying she’s confident about her second trial. Her attorney declined to discuss their upcoming strategy.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
