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.
More than half of the Karen Read jury pool has now been selected.
Ten people have been picked as of Thursday, five men and five women who will be among those hearing prosecutors' evidence in what's expected to be a weekslong trial that Read killed her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe, in January 2022, and her team's claims of a cover-up.
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"It is going faster than anticipated," NBC10 Boston legal analyst Michael Coyne said.
On Thursday — the day Read's appeal to the Supreme Court hit the docket — Judge Beverly Cannone once again instructed about 40 potential jurors on the case, the law and their role as finders of fact. Each filled out the three-page jury questionnaire, which includes questions about everything from the defendant to law enforcement to media coverage.
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The results were similar to previous days' pools. On Thursday, 93% said they'd heard of the high-profile case, with 53% forming an opinion and 10% saying they were biased either for or against her.
The jurors are later questioned at sidebar by the judge, prosecution and defense.
"It's surprising that so many are able to put aside what they know and at least promise the court that they will only resolve the case on the evidence submitted in the second trial," Coyne said.
Like the first trial, the case is drawing crowds outside the Norfolk Superior Courthouse. Cannone ordered a buffer zone, forcing them at least 200 feet away from the courthouse on hearing days. Four of Read's supporters have sued, calling that buffer zone unconstitutional and saying it "prohibits their rights to free speech and due process."
A hearing on the buffer zone is set to take place Friday in federal court.
