Karen Read trial for murder of John O'Keefe

[TN-peach]

Is anyone watching this trial?

I have not done any outside research.  I know nothing other than what has been presented at trial but this is a crazy trial.  The prosecution seems to be blowing it because it seems to have only proven that it was snowing that night and people were drinking but not that Karen Read was drinking.

[moreorlessnu]

Yes. There have been hints of what is to come (in the trial on the defense side) in the comments section of local newspaper. Time will tell if the information posted is accurate. 

Initially, when John O'Keefe died, I thought it was far fetched to say KR was framed because this alternative theory was initially posted by an online blogger. 

[Bluebirdbluebell]

I'm posting this, because I wasn't sure myself about legal definitions.

She's charged with second degree murder. Here's a definition of second degree murder from the Wikipedia article Murder in the United States laws:

Quote

Second-degree murder

Any intentional killing that is not premeditated or planned. A situation in which the killer intends only to inflict serious bodily harm, knowing this could result in death but with no specific intent to kill, constitutes depraved-heart murder, which can be considered as second-degree murder.

 

[moreorlessnu]

The thinking is that she was overcharged to pressure her into a plea bargain, and any cover up would never see the light of day. 

About 15 minutes from where this happened is the Gillette Stadium (Rt 1, Foxborough, Massachusetts). On Rt 1, there is a huge "Free Karen" billboard that's been up for several months. 

[TN-peach]

Yikes! The group text messages between the McCabes and the Arnolds came into evidence looking bad.  Why in the world is the prosecution not helping their own witnesses?! They knew these text messages would come in why wouldn't they prep their witnesses.

 

This trial has so much bad lawyering it hurts.

[moreorlessnu]

There is an ongoing Federal investigation into this case: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/04/09/metro/karen-read-federal-investigation/

The complete article is cut and pasted in the spoiler below.

Spoiler

A federal investigation into allegations of a police coverup involving the 2022 death of Boston police Officer John O’Keefe in Canton is highly unusual and will likely have an impact on the upcoming murder trial of his girlfriend, Karen Read, according to several legal experts.

Read’s case appears to mark the first time in recent memory the US attorney’s office in Massachusetts convened a grand jury to investigate the state’s handling of a murder prosecution while the trial is pending, according to several prominent criminal defense attorneys and former federal prosecutors.

“It’s highly unusual, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have the power and right to do it if they think there are federal crimes occurring,” said Brian T. Kelly, a former federal prosecutor who served as chief of the public corruption unit at the US attorney’s office in Boston.

The yearlong federal investigation into the state’s prosecution of Read has not led to any federal charges.

Now, the burden is on the Norfolk district attorney’s office to prove that Read, 44, of Mansfield, killed O’Keefe. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Norfolk Superior Court in the case, which has drawn national attention and made her a cause célèbre among supporters who believe she was framed.

Read has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence, and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in personal injury or death.

Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey wrote letters to the Justice Department last year raising concerns about “the unprecedented use of federal power to interfere with a state homicide investigation,” according to court filings.

The investigation presents Read’s attorneys with an unusual advantage: They may use evidence that was gathered by federal prosecutors, and recently turned over in the state case, to attempt to challenge the credibility of some of the state’s key witnesses at trial.

It’s “very rare” and “very messy” to launch a federal investigation into the handling of an active state murder investigation, said Zachary Hafer, a former federal prosecutor who served as chief of the criminal division at the US attorney’s office in Boston.

“One of the reasons it’s so rare is all of the practical complications,” said Hafer, who is not involved in Read’s case, noting that federal and state prosecutors are compiling reports and taking statements from the same witnesses during their simultaneous investigations.

Shortly after midnight on Jan. 29, 2022, O’Keefe and Read were among a small group of friends invited back to the Canton home of Boston police Sergeant Detective Brian Albert after leaving a local bar, according to prosecutors. They allege that Read was intoxicated when she dropped O’Keefe off during a blinding snowstorm, then struck him with her SUV and left him to die in the bitter cold.

State prosecutors insist there is overwhelming evidence implicating Read, including O’Keefe’s DNA found on the broken taillight of her car.

The state medical examiner found that O’Keefe, 46, was likely incapacitated by severe head injuries, and hypothermia was a contributing factor to his death, according to court filings.

Read’s lawyers, David Yannetti and Alan Jackson, allege that O’Keefe was severely beaten inside the home, attacked by the family’s German shepherd, and dumped outside. They have accused police of a coverup and cited evidence that the state trooper assigned to the case has a personal relationship with the Albert family.

The US attorney’s office and the FBI declined to comment on the federal investigation. However, it was disclosed during state court proceedings in Read’s case that all of the people who were inside Albert’s home around the time of O’Keefe’s death were subpoenaed to testify before the federal grand jury last year.

During a pretrial hearing last month, Yannetti said federal authorities hired crash reconstruction experts, who concluded that O’Keefe’s injuries were “inconsistent” with being struck by a car.

But state authorities allege that O’Keefe suffered serious head injuries after being struck by Read. Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally told the judge that documents provided by the US attorney’s office were “largely consistent” with the state’s theory of the case. He said all of the witnesses who were present at Albert’s house around the time of O’Keefe’s death testified before the federal grand jury that he never went inside and “there was no fight; there was no attack.”

The federal crash reconstruction report was among some 3,000 pages of documents, including grand jury statements by witnesses, that the US attorney’s office turned over to Read’s lawyers and state prosecutors in February. Those documents were impounded by Judge Beverly Cannone, who is presiding over Read’s case, and were not made public. But they may be used to question witnesses and challenge their accounts of what happened to O’Keefe.

The defense also may call the federal government’s crash reconstruction experts to the stand.

Tracy Miner, a longtime Boston criminal defense lawyer who has handled public corruption and murder cases but has no involvement in Read’s case, said federal authorities have aggressively targeted local police for decades, ranging from public corruption cases in the 1980s to the more recent prosecutions of state troopers and police officers for collecting overtime pay for hours they didn’t work.

However, she said the federal probe of Read’s case is unusual because it’s happening simultaneously with her state prosecution for murder.

“I’m surprised they didn’t let it play out,” Miner said.

It’s unlikely the federal investigation will impede the murder prosecution, but “it certainly complicates it,” Miner said.

She said the federal investigation “absolutely” helps the defense in Read’s case because the prosecution’s key witnesses have previously testified before the federal grand jury and may be cross-examined about any contradictory statements.

“It’s very hard to be consistent so there are going to be inconsistencies in testimony between what they told police and what they told the feds,” Miner said.

Read’s attorneys also credited federal investigators with uncovering evidence that had been ignored by state prosecutors. Yannetti argued that telephone records seized by federal authorities showed “suspicious contact” between Albert and another witness, Brian Higgins, shortly before O’Keefe’s body was discovered.

“Thank God another law enforcement agency stepped in and did what the DA should have done,” Yannetti said during a state court hearing last month.

But lawyers representing Higgins, Albert, and Albert’s wife and two children, told the judge that the US attorney’s office had authorized them to tell the court that their clients were not targets of the federal investigation.

Longtime criminal defense attorney Martin Weinberg said that not every federal investigation uncovers evidence of wrongdoing. “It simply means [the US attorney] had some basis to begin an investigation that would substantially overlap with a traditional state murder case,” he said.

Now, Read’s fate will be left to a jury.

“At its roots it’s a classic murder case,” Weinberg said. “Can they prove what they charge? Is this woman innocent? And if guilty, is it voluntary murder?”

 

Shelley Murphy can be reached at shelley.murphy@globe.com. Follow her @shelleymurph.

 

[TN-peach]

With the federal investigation this case is messy as hell.  Between the lead investigator looking through Karen Reed's phone without a warrant to look for nudes (WTF?!), the lead investigator knew EVERYBODY?!.  The police used red solo cups to collect the blood evidence and a brown paper shopping bag to hold the red solo cups.  A leaf blower to blow the snow to collect the evidence.  I mean this alone is crazy and then you add in the federal investigation.  Of course, other than vague comments by the witnesses about another grand jury and only one witnesses saying the "feds" the jury is unaware of the federal investigation.

[moreorlessnu]

...And the judge's brother represented Chris Albert (brother of Brian Albert -> homeowner where John's body was found) in a hit and run case where a man died back in 1994-5.

The lead investigator's sister is close friends with Chris Albert's wife, and their son Colin Albert was a ring bearer in the wedding of the lead investigator's sister. 

[Bluebirdbluebell]

On 5/18/2024 at 5:53 PM, moreorlessnu said:

The thinking is that she was overcharged to pressure her into a plea bargain, and any cover up would never see the light of day.

I feel like overcharging her is a big mistake that could backfire.  Juries need more evidence for the higher charges. Then again this trial is odd and possibly not going well anyway.

[TN-peach]

Jen McCabe's testimony was something else.  Lots of buttdials, deleted phone calls, internet searches, changing stories, combative answers.  Yikes! I don't think she was very credible.

[moreorlessnu]

I wish they had a telephone extraction expert to explain the 2am search versus the 6:20-ish am searches.

Kerry Roberts seems like a far more credible witness, so far. No over the top drama.

[TN-peach]

59 minutes ago, moreorlessnu said:

I wish they had a telephone extraction expert to explain the 2am search versus the 6:20-ish am searches.

Kerry Roberts seems like a far more credible witness, so far. No over the top drama.

I would LOVE to have some experts testify in this trial.  Maybe even the ME to testify that Officer O'Keefe is actually dead.  We still don't have evidence that he died.  We are on day witness 500+ and day 100+ with no evidence of a dead body.  That is unusual in a murder trial.  (Yes, I know he is dead but it hasn't been proven in court).

Kerry is sooooooo much better than Jen McCabe.  It is lightyears difference.  It is obvious that Kerry doesn't like Karen but she isn't allowing it to affect her testimony.  She is telling it like it is.  She is not adding anything. 

[moreorlessnu]

Oh. My. Goodness. 

I feel dirty after listening to some of Trooper Proctor's testimony. I wasn't able to hear all of it (I'll catch up later), but my goodness!

[TN-peach]

Those text messages are awful.  Between the text messages and the mirrored video from last week, unless there is a video of Karen actually hitting John with her car there is lots of reasonable doubt.

[TN-peach]

It appears that the prosecution is more determined to prove that Jen McCabe did not google "hos long to die in the cold" at 2:27 am than proving that Karen hit John. 

[moreorlessnu]

Yes, I'm waiting to hear what "Mr. Green" has to say.

From a technical point of view, it makes no sense to me why the IOS software would be written to store a timestamp for a search whenever the tab (containing the search) was opened (even if that tab was opened hours/days/weeks earlier), rather than storing the timestamp for the search when the search was typed into the window, or when a user selects the "Enter" key to perform the search.

Many applications have the ability to capture what you are typing as you are typing it, even before you hit the "Enter" key. Even if you backspace out of it, the application (i.e., social media, search tool, etc.), essentially "knows" what you started typing. I'll be curious to see if there's some sort of auto-streaming expert who can prove what was typed into the search engine even if the "Enter" key was not selected. 

If the defense can prove that the "hos long to die in the cold" search was performed at 2:27 am, then it's really hard to see how the prosecution can continue. That may be why Mr. Lally is fighting so hard. 

On a separate note, along with all the other indignities that Karen suffered throughout the past 2+ years, I feel bad for her that the authorities have held on to her car and her phone. Yes, she's probably wealthy enough to replace both, but for someone else, that would be a huge hardship.

[TN-peach]

Also as of this moment, I don't think her texts or calls to John are jaw dropping.  Are they excessive? yes, Would I be friends or in a relationship with someone that calls/texts you that much? No.  I don't do drama.  But apparently that is her "normal."  I don't see (as of what it is in evidence right now) their texts as enough to be motive.  But that is my opinion and what ultimately matters is what the jury thinks.

[BensAllergies]

On 6/18/2024 at 8:28 AM, TN-peach said:

Also as of this moment, I don't think her texts or calls to John are jaw dropping.  Are they excessive? yes, Would I be friends or in a relationship with someone that calls/texts you that much? No.  I don't do drama.  But apparently that is her "normal."  I don't see (as of what it is in evidence right now) their texts as enough to be motive.  But that is my opinion and what ultimately matters is what the jury thinks.

IMO the voicemails prove that if she did hit him with her car that it was not intentional. 

[moreorlessnu]

She does sound like she's very insistent when she wants attention. Yet, she was all happy with John when she met up with him at the bar, despite the fact that they had had a fight that morning and she had texted him that he really hurt her. It sounds like she gets very dramatic but then forgives quickly as soon as she gets what she wants.

I could not put up with someone who left voicemail like that for me, and I couldn't put up with someone who would not respect my wishes if I said I needed space. John was juggling a full time job as a police officer as well as raising two kids by himself. 

I was cheering Lucky as he gave his testimony. I thought he knocked it out of the park. He sounded like someone who cannot be bullied into changing testimony and he also sounds like someone who, once he remembers something, it's stored forever in his mind. 

I didn't realize that Jenn McCabe had deleted all her text messages from about midnight until just before 9am (which is when one of the Canton police officers came to speak with her, and she "remembered" that Karen had said, "I hit him"). I also didn't realize that someone deleted location data from Karen's phone in April 2022. 

[TN-peach]

I honestly thought that the jury would be back with a verdict by now.  🤷‍♀️

[moreorlessnu]

Me, too.  The jury did come back with a question about the SERT report, but there was none. 

I heard an attorney speculate that because it took so long yesterday (dismissing a juror, closing arguments, Judge's instructions) to get the case into the jury's hands, the jury would probably not deliver a verdict yesterday so as not to make the prosecution look bad. Meaning, if the jury deliberate for roughly 2 hours yesterday and came back today with a verdict, then it would look like the jury deliberated "for 2 days", even if they had pretty much made up their mind by Tuesday afternoon. 

I would have thought it would be a quick verdict. I'm very surprised that a verdict didn't come down today, even though a juror made it clear they had to be done by 4pm EST today due to a prior commitment. 

I don't know what to think.

[moreorlessnu]

Jury sent a note to Judge Cannone that they cannot come to a decision.

[moreorlessnu]

Unless the jury reaches a verdict, the next step will be for Judge Cannone to give what's called  a Tuey-Rodriguez charge in which the judge will instruct, "There is no reason to suppose that the case will ever be submitted to six persons who are more intelligent, more impartial, or more competent to decide it than you are, or that more or clearer evidence will be produced on one side or the other. With all this in mind, it is your duty to decide this case if you can do so conscientiously". 

https://www.mass.gov/doc/2460-when-jurors-cannot-agree/download

Other states use an "Allen charge". 

For updates, I've been following Ted Daniels on X. He is a local news reporter in the courtroom.

Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) · X

Edited July 1 by moreorlessnu

[ifosterkittens]

I understand Officer Proctor being relieved of duty is just the first step in determining if they can fire him, and not a done deal, but do you think it would have happened if Karen had been convicted on any of the charges? The DA's office had said yesterday after the hung jury that the DA would try the case again, do you think this will give Lally pause? Lally brought this case forward with so many issues I don't know that Proctor's employment status really matters to him. 

[TN-peach]

The retrial will be really difficult for the commonwealth.  The witnesses have testified 2-3 times under oath now so every inconsistency and change will be highlighted by the defense.  See how many times they hammered Jen McCabe about her Grand Jury testimony about never saying "I hit him, I hit him, I hit him." The defense will have more time to find those inconsistencies in the testimonies and in the reports. 

The Commonwealth cannot change their facts or their indictment from the grand jury.  Their main theory of the case has to stay the same.  They cannot change it based on new information from the ARCCA investigators or anyone else.  It will be tough.