Request to delay Karen Read’s retrial denied as judge hears motions in murder case

DEDHAM, Mass. — The Karen Read case returned to court Thursday after the defense filed a motion asking Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone to delay the start of the Mansfield woman’s second murder trial.

Shortly after the start of the hearing, Cannone informed the court of her decision to deny the request to delay the start of the retrial, which is set to begin with jury selection on April 1.

In her decision to deny, Cannone expressed concerns over the case’s large jury pool.

“Well, I’m not going to grant the motion. We have jurors coming in that were summonsed months ago,” Cannone explained. “I called the jury commissioner yesterday and asked how long it would take to get the right numbers that we were able to get starting April 1st at a minimum of ten weeks. But I’m not going to do that.”

Cannone noted that if a jury is in place by April 25 and if the federal appeals court hasn’t issued a ruling on the defense’s request to drop two charges against Read, she might revisit the request to delay.

Read is accused of hitting her Boston police officer boyfriend John O’Keefe with her Lexus SUV in Canton on Jan. 29, 2022, and leaving him to die after a night of drinking. The defense has sought to portray Read as the victim, saying O’Keefe was actually killed inside the Albert family home at 34 Fairview Road in Canton and then dragged outside and left for dead.

The request to push the start of Read’s retrial back from April 1 to April 28 is just one of many motions attorneys will argue during what’s supposed to be the final hearing before jury selection starts.

Read’s attorneys asked for the delay to allow them time to appeal a federal judge’s ruling that denied a request to have jurors from the first trial questioned about their verdicts on three charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death.

Defense lawyers hope to show that jurors unanimously found Read not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a crash. They are also arguing that Read’s double jeopardy interests haven’t been taken into consideration.

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In the motion to delay, Read’s lawyers wrote, “The defense respectfully submits that such continuance is necessary to permit Ms. Read to appeal the denial of her federal double jeopardy claims, which the federal court expressly found to be “substantial,” to the First Circuit Court of Appeals prior to being forced to undergo a retrial that Ms. Read contends would violate her rights.”

In court on Tuesday, the defense also asked Judge Cannone to bar certain prosecution witnesses from the courtroom during closing arguments, including the Albert and McCabe families.

Judge Cannone ruled during Tuesday’s hearing that the defense team’s ARCCA witnesses, Daniel Wolfe and Andrew Rentschler, would be allowed back for testimony. They testified at Read’s first trial that O’Keefe’s injuries were not consistent with being struck by a car. Special prosecutor Hank Brennan had attempted to block them.

Cannone reprimanded Read’s attorneys for what she said were “false statements” and “repeated misrepresentations” regarding their relationship with the ARCCA witnesses before ruling in their favor.

Judge Cannone reprimands Karen Read’s defense team in heated pre-trial hearing

Ahead of Thursday’s hearing, the defense also released a list of 91 prospective witnesses, including Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey, John O’Keefe Sr., and former Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor.

Thursday’s hearing also comes a day after Massachusetts State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble announced Proctor’s termination from the law enforcement agency over conduct related to the Read murder investigation.

Proctor was assigned to investigate the death of O’Keefe. He was relieved of his duty without pay this past summer after a mistrial was declared in Read’s murder case and his last day with the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office followed soon thereafter.

Proctor came under fire for a series of disparaging texts he sent about Read, which he read aloud in court during witness testimony at her first trial. Proctor admitted on the stand that the texts were “unprofessional.” He called Read things like a “whack job” and other derogatory words, he talked about her medical issues and wrote, “No nudes so far,” while going through her phone.

The Massachusetts State Police Trial Board found Proctor guilty of two charges, unsatisfactory performance and drinking alcohol while on duty.

Boston 25 News legal expert Peter Elikann weighed in on whether the defense will call Proctor to testify in the wake of his firing.

“I still see him testifying at the trial. I don’t see how he can get out of it,” Elikann said. “The defense would certainly subpoena him and want to cross-examine him and there’s no getting out of that.”

Proctor’s family expressed disappointment with Noble’s decision, saying it “lacks precedent” and “unfairly exploits and scapegoats one of their own.”

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