More than a year after her high-profile murder acquittal, Karen Read returned to the same Dedham courthouse for a hearing centered on two iPhones seized by State Police nearly two and a half years ago. Accompanied by her parents and her high-profile, Los Angeles-based attorney Alan Jackson, Read watched as her defense team launched an aggressive bid to remove the Special Prosecutor who has possession of Read’s phones.
Jackson argued that Special Prosecutor Robert Cosgrove has been colluding with Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey to keep the phones. Cosgrove was appointed to prevent a conflict of interest with Morrissey. According to Jackson, Morrissey has identified himself as an alleged target of the witness intimidation tactics under investigation.
Jackson told the Judge that Cosgrove and the District Attorney’s office are improperly holding the phones together and coordinating behind closed doors.
State Police seized Read’s iPhones to probe whether she conspired with blogger Aidan Kearney, known online as “Turtleboy,” to harass witnesses from her murder trial. Kearney still faces separate witness intimidation charges.
Read’s defense has said that Cosgrove’s insistence on holding the devices is retaliatory, particularly given a failed grand jury attempt to indict Read for witness intimidation.
Cosgrove pushed back against the disqualification effort by questioning Read’s standing to challenge his role. He argued that even if he were consulting with the District Attorney’s office on his every move, which he maintained “he is not”, he did not see how it would present a legal problem.
Cosgrove took a personal shot at Jackson when he read directly from a transcript from Read’s second murder trial, quoting Judge Beverly Cannone, who had scolded the defense team for making “repeated” and “deliberate” misrepresentations to the court.
Cosgrove used the quote to suggest that Jackson was distorting the facts to get him recused.
Jackson fired back outside the courtroom, calling the maneuver a “low blow” that had absolutely no place in a proper legal setting, labeling it an act of desperation from a prosecutor who lacked both the facts and the law to back up his case.
No immediate decision was made. Judge Michael Doolin took the complex matter under advisement, indicating he will issue a written response to determine if Cosgrove will be pulled from the case or if the search of Read’s phones can proceed.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
©2026 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
