Things to know about jury’s verdict of not guilty of murder in Karen Read’s second trial

DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — A jury returned a not guilty verdict Wednesday on the top charge of murder in the second trial of Karen Read, who was charged with killing her Boston police officer boyfriend.

Jurors convicted Read on a charge of operating under the influence and cleared her on other lesser counts.

Jury deliberations began late last week, more than a month after the trial started. The third full day of deliberations began Wednesday morning.

Read, 45, was accused of striking John O’Keefe with her car outside a suburban Boston house party and leaving him to die in the snow in January 2022. She was charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene.

Read’s lawyers say O’Keefe, 46, was beaten, bitten by a dog, then left outside a home in Canton in a conspiracy orchestrated by the police that included planting evidence against Read.

Read’s second trial followed similar contours to the first, which ended in a mistrial last year.

Read has never been jailed for O’Keefe’s killing. She did not testify at her first murder trial or this one.

Read and supporters cheer verdict of not guilty on murder charge

Cheers from the crowd outside could be heard in the courtroom as the verdict was read. With gleeful supporters, Read departed with her attorneys and family. Some fans threw pink confetti.

“No one has fought harder for justice for John O’Keefe than I have,” Read said.

Read’s father, Bill Read, told reporters he felt relief and gave “tremendous thanks” to God when the verdict was read.

“We need to get our life back together, and we will,” he said.

Asked why he thought the second trial’s outcome was different, he said, “Another year of information circulating in the public, and people are aware of what’s happened.”

Prosecutors did not speak to reporters outside court.

Defense argued Read was framed

Defense attorney Alan Jackson began his closing argument Friday by repeating three times: “There was no collision.” He told the jury that Read is an innocent woman victimized by a police cover-up in which law enforcement officers sought to protect their own and obscure the real killer.

He repeatedly attacked the lead investigator in the case, former Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor, who was fired after sharing offensive and sexist texts about Read with friends, family and co-workers. He said Proctor’s “blatant bias” tainted every aspect of the corrupt and flawed investigation and noted how prosecutors refused to put him on the stand, as they did during the first trial.

Prosecutors argued Read chose to leave O’Keefe to die

Prosecutor Hank Brennan opened his closing argument Friday by saying Read callously decided to leave O’Keefe dying in the snow, fully aware that he was gravely injured. He argued that she made the “choice to let” O’Keefe die, going further than prosecutors in the first trial in spelling out a motive.

Brennan said Read’s blood-alcohol level was two to three times the legal limit, after the couple downed multiple drinks at two Canton bars. The couple, whose “toxic” relationship was “crumbling,” had an argument on the way to the house party that increased tensions and ultimately led to O’Keefe’s death, the prosecutor said.

“She was drunk, she hit him, and she left him to die,” Brennan said.

Read’s pink-clad supporters

Dozens of Read supporters, dressed mostly in pink, had been camped out waiting for the verdict. They gather behind barricades and across the courthouse each morning to catch a glimpse of Read.

Members of the crowd, some of whom waved American flags or posters supporting Read or denigrating the prosecution, said they came because Read could have been one of them. The tightly knit group of mostly women said the case woke them up to a corrupt justice system and they hoped their movement can reform it.

What charges did Read face?

Read faced several charges, the most serious being second-degree murder. She faced a maximum sentence of life in prison. She also faced manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

She was also charged with involuntary manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; motor vehicle homicide, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison; as well as operating under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death. They carry maximum sentences of 2 1/2 years and 15 years, respectively.

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Whittle reported from Scarborough, Maine.