Jurors deadlocked as Read case ends in mistrial

By Jay Turner

After four and a half days of exhaustive deliberations, and hours after receiving a special instruction urging them to push past their differences to arrive at a verdict, the jurors in the Karen Read murder trial returned to the courtroom on Monday still “starkly divided,” prompting Judge Beverly Cannone to declare a mistrial.

Having previously relayed a similar message on two separate occasions, the jury, in a written statement read by the judge, explained that it would be “futile” to continue deliberating and would “only serve to force [them] to compromise [their] deeply held beliefs.”

Karen Read with her defense team

“I’m not going to do that to you, folks; your service is complete,” Cannone told the jurors.

It will now be up to a new panel of 12 citizens to decide the guilt or innocence of Read, who maintains that she was framed for the January 2022 killing of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer and Canton resident John O’Keefe. While her attorneys have set out to show that others, including those with deep Canton connections and ties to law enforcement, had the means, motive and opportunity to kill O’Keefe and conspired to pin the crime on an “outsider,” prosecutors believe the evidence points squarely at Read, who they say intentionally rammed into O’Keefe with her SUV and then left him to die outside in the snow.

Almost immediately after a mistrial was declared, the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office issued a statement confirming that they plan to re-try the case. “First, we thank the O’Keefe family for their commitment and dedication to this long process,” the statement read. “They maintained sight of the true core of this case — to find justice for John O’Keefe.”

While the first go-round was exhaustive, lasting eight weeks and involving the testimony of more than 70 witnesses and 650 different exhibits, jurors said their inability to arrive at a consensus was not due to a “lack of understanding or effort” but instead rooted in “deeply held convictions that each of [them] carry.”

Earlier on Monday, Cannone told prosecutors and defense attorneys that she had never, in all of her years on the bench, seen a jurors’ note like theirs — one that so earnestly conveyed the nature of their impasse.

Even after being given the Tuey-Rodriguez instructions — a kind of “dynamite charge” or “last resort” measure used in Massachusetts courts to break a deadlock — the jurors said they simply could not arrive at a consensus.

Perhaps fittingly for a case that has sharply divided the Canton community, pitting neighbors, friends and colleagues against one another, jurors said it boiled down to “fundamental differences” and a “sincere adherence to [their] individual principals and moral convictions.”

“Our perspectives on the evidence are starkly divided,” they explained. “Some members of the jury firmly believe that the evidence surpasses the burden of proof establishing the elements of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. Conversely, others find the evidence fails to meet this standard and does not sufficiently establish the necessary elements of the charges.”

Speaking outside the courthouse on Monday, defense attorney Alan Jackson told reporters, “This is what it looks like when you bring false charges against an innocent person.”

“[The commonwealth] brought the weight of the state based on spurious charges, based on compromised investigators and compromised witnesses,” he said. “This is what it looks like. And guess what? They failed. They failed miserably and they’ll continue to fail. No matter how long it takes, no matter how long they keep trying, we will not stop fighting.”

Defense attorney David Yannetti also praised Read for the “strength and courage” she has shown in the face of the charges, and thanked all of those who believe in her innocence and have advocated for justice. “Your support was invaluable,” he told the assembled crowd. “We are touched and we ask for your continued support.”

With prosecutors voicing their intention to re-try the case, Cannone scheduled a meeting with lawyers for both sides on July 22 to determine next steps. Prosecutors could also opt to pursue lesser charges in the new trial, or they could attempt to strike a plea deal with Read — an unlikely possibility at this point given the public stance of both parties.

In related news on Monday, the Massachusetts State Police announced that Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead detective in the Read investigation, had been relieved of his duty and transferred out of the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office State Police Detective’s Unit. The decision follows a previous announcement that the State Police had opened an internal affairs investigation into Proctor’s conduct, and an MSP spokesman indicated that the decision to relieve him means that he can “no longer work cases or function as a trooper during this time.”

During the trial, under questioning from ADA Adam Lally, Proctor read a series of private text messages that he had sent to friends, family members and colleagues in which he mocked Read and expressed his opinions about her guilt, at one point stating that he hoped she would kill herself. Read’s attorneys argued that his texts were evidence of bias on the part of investigators and compromised the integrity of the state’s entire case, while both Proctor and the Norfolk prosecutors said the comments, although regrettable and unprofessional, had no bearing on the integrity of the investigation.

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Statement from Police Chief Rafferty

I respect the decision of each individual juror to stand by their conviction. Their task holds a very difficult burden, and by all accounts from them, they did their best. Ms. Read has been tried by a jury of her peers, in a process that is the bedrock of our nation — underscoring that the administration of justice should not be carried out on the streets or on social media, but rather in our courtrooms.

Most importantly, I am saddened that this case has caused so much pain and suffering for the O’Keefe family. The mistrial has certainly not brought them any consolation or comfort surrounding John’s death. My thoughts are with them as they navigate the repetitive, incredibly difficult journey ahead.

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