{"id":212,"date":"2025-06-19T14:52:20","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T14:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/?p=212"},"modified":"2025-06-19T14:52:20","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T14:52:20","slug":"unpacking-the-second-trial-and-verdict-that-cleared-karen-read-of-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/?p=212","title":{"rendered":"Unpacking the second trial and verdict that cleared Karen Read of murder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The case that captured the attention of people across the country has finally come to a conclusion: Karen Read<\/a> was acquitted of the 2022 death of her boyfriend, John O\u2019Keefe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To a screaming crowd of hundreds outside the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts, on Wednesday, Read thanked her legal team and supporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her second murder trial was a victory for Read after the first ended in a hung jury last year. This time, though, jurors found Read guilty of drunk driving \u2014 but not guilty of second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death. She was sentenced to one year of probation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNN correspondent Jean Casarez has been closely following the trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here she breaks down some of the key pieces of the retrial and what could have changed for Read this time around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the answers have been edited for length and clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What was the biggest difference between the first trial and this one? What witnesses and pieces of evidence stand out to you as being most consequential?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: There were many differences between the first trial and this trial. First of all, let\u2019s look at the side of the prosecution: They brought in Special Prosecutor Hank Brennan, who was a noted trial attorney, but normally he is a defense attorney. He was stellar in his presentation in that courtroom. He examined and cross-examined almost every single witness and he did it with precision and knowledge and finesse. So that was the number one difference; the prosecution went to a much higher level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second thing was, between the first trial and the second trial, Karen Read had done numerous television interviews and even one that was just audio. Brennan was allowed to bring in these interview clips of Read herself saying things against her interest and there were many of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the defense side, their theory in the first trial was that Karen Read was framed. Now, that was still in this second trial, but what really became paramount was reasonable doubt and the defense hammered home every chance they got: reasonable doubt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of their greatest strengths were the arm injuries on John O\u2019Keefe \u2013 where did they come from? The prosecution couldn\u2019t really show that beyond a reasonable doubt because you don\u2019t know exactly how John O\u2019Keefe was standing. There were taillight fragments in his clothing that were found by the forensics experts, but you couldn\u2019t show how those injuries got on that arm and I think that helped the defense. Every opportunity they had to show reasonable doubt of this circumstantial case, they did so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Karen<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Karen Read talks with her attorney, Robert Alessi, during her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Thursday, June 12, in Dedham, Massachusetts. Charles Krupa\/Pool\/AP<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: There were notably some witnesses who did not take the stand this time around, including lead investigator Michael Proctor. Brian Albert, a Boston police officer who owned the home Read said she dropped O\u2019Keefe off at, and Brian Higgins, an ATF agent who was there the night O\u2019Keefe died also did not testify. However, the jury still heard about them and even saw text messages from them. Why did neither side put them on the stand?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: In the first trial, Proctor, Albert and Higgins, a romantic interest of Karen Read, all took the stand for the prosecution. But in this trial, a strategic decision was made by the Commonwealth to not put them on the stand at all. They didn\u2019t feel they needed them, so they didn\u2019t put them on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That left the defense to call them and the defense did not want to do direct examinations on these individuals. So the evidence came in other ways. Sexist\u00a0texts<\/a>\u00a0from Proctor did come into this trial through a childhood friend who was on the group chat where Proctor sent the messages about Read right at the beginning of this case. That strategy of not calling them to testify may have worked in the eyes of some jurors, but it didn\u2019t help the prosecution in the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Legal experts were concerned Read\u2019s public comments and interviews would hurt her case. How do you think the jurors weighed that?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: We know that jurors had a question once they started their deliberation: \u201cAre these clips evidence?\u201d So at that point, they may have not even considered them. The judge told them, \u201cYes, they are evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then they deliberated all day Wednesday. Did they look at those clips? How much did they consider those clips? Or was their mind already made up even by the time they sent that question about whether they were evidence? We don\u2019t know at this point how much emphasis they placed on the defendant herself speaking, ultimately to that jury, through those interviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Like Proctor and other key players in this case, Read also didn\u2019t testify during the retrial, even though the jury was hearing her public comments. Can you explain the thinking behind that decision for the defense?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: I think the defense thought it was way too risky to put her on the stand. Not only would she be subject to intense cross examination by Hank Brennan that may not prove to be helpful to the defense\u2019s case, but they would also risk her saying things that aren\u2019t helpful, as she did in the interviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She even said in one of the interviews that this was her testimony. She wanted to talk. They were probably concerned about what she might say and they decided their case was strong enough \u2013 they don\u2019t have to prove anything, they were showing reasonable doubt and they didn\u2019t have to put her on the stand to rebut those interview clips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Read has famously and publicly claimed to be the target of a cover-up. But her defense attorneys did not argue a third-party culprit theory in court. Why wouldn\u2019t they go there?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: They wanted to. They desperately wanted to. They filed a motion saying they wanted that instruction of third-party culprit to go to the jury and before the trial began, but Judge Beverly Cannone said she needed to see if they could <\/strong>develop <\/strong>this theory during the trial to be able to get that instruction. Well, with Michael Proctor, Brian Albert and Brian Higgins not taking the stand, the defense could not develop that. They did not get that instruction. So conceivably, it could have really hurt the defense but they didn\u2019t need it in the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: The commonwealth did have some strong evidence against Karen Read. What was it and why wasn\u2019t that enough?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: John O\u2019Keefe\u2019s body was found in the snow, near the flagpole and close to the street. On the day that all of this happened, late in the afternoon, the Massachusetts CERT team \u2014 that was their emergency team \u2014 came out. The blizzard had ended but the mounds of snow were very high. They stood in a grid line with sifters and sifted through the snow close to where his body was found and they started finding broken pieces of taillight, O\u2019Keefe\u2019s shoe and a broken cocktail glass O\u2019Keefe took out of Read\u2019s car when he got out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, law enforcement had just gotten custody of that car and the prosecution tried to make the point that, based on the timeline, there\u2019s no way they could have planted all that evidence where John O\u2019Keefe\u2019s body was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second piece of evidence was O\u2019Keefe\u2019s cell phone. An expert testified about the Apple Health steps that O\u2019Keefe took. That expert went behind the data that you and I see on our phone and determined after O\u2019Keefe got out of Karen Read\u2019s car \u2014 because the steps began again at that point on his phone \u2014 and then they ended just a few minutes later. His <\/strong>phone never moved again until the next morning when O\u2019Keefe\u2019s body was found. The defense\u2019s theory is that O\u2019Keefe walked into the house, was killed inside that house, and his body was brought back outside. Well, that phone would have had to move again. It never moved after he got out of Karen Read\u2019s car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the jury had to assess that, and even if they felt that was strong evidence, they had to believe that that reasonable doubt was greater than what appeared to be conclusive evidence of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Read\u2019s supporters have always brought a lot of public attention to this case. When she walked out of the courthouse on Wednesday after the verdict was read, hundreds of people taking over the street cheered and celebrated. Who are her supporters and why have they rallied around her all this time?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: Her supporters were very real people from this community, even some from outside this community. I got to know some of them. They\u2019re very nice people, they were very respectful to the court. This was a grassroots movement that began with very small numbers and it just started to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This grassroots movement was based on the belief that Karen Read was framed, but also focused on what they believed was corrupt law enforcement that did not follow the law, that manufactured evidence or tampered with evidence. They believed it was rampant in their community. And not only law enforcement, government on all local levels. Karen Read, I believe, became their symbol for that corruption that they felt was tainting their community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: Before coming to a final decision on Wednesday, the jury had a verdict false alarm. The jurors indicated they had a verdict \u2014 only to change their mind. But, the judge directed the court officer to place the verdict slip into a sealed envelope. Do you think the first sealed slip said the same thing as the final verdict? Will we ever know?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: We don\u2019t know why there was this false call at the beginning and then minutes later there was a verdict. We may find out in time, but if the judge had believed there was a concern, an issue of integrity \u2014 I believe there would have been more to the finality of this trial than there was. There was a verdict, the judge accepted it, the jury determined it was a true and honest verdict and that it was unanimous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What happens now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A: There\u2019s a big question if the victim in this case, the person who lost his life, John O\u2019Keefe, will he and his family ever get justice? Is there someone else that committed this crime? Will there be an investigation? Will there be a prosecution? I guess time will tell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can tell you that it didn\u2019t come in the trial, but there was an investigation of law enforcement involved with this case \u2014 and Brennan said in court that the investigation ended without any criminal charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we have to only hope there will be answers because if there are not answers for the O\u2019Keefe family, for this community and for everyone else in this country who cares, what happened to John O\u2019Keefe will remain a mystery. And no one wants his death to go unanswered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The case that captured the attention of people across the country has finally come to a conclusion: Karen Read was acquitted of the 2022 death of her boyfriend, John O\u2019Keefe. To a screaming crowd of hundreds outside the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts, on Wednesday, Read thanked her legal team and supporters. Her second murder trial…<\/p>\n

Read More “Unpacking the second trial and verdict that cleared Karen Read of murder”<\/span> »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=212"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":214,"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212\/revisions\/214"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}