The defense in Karen Read’s second murder trial has rested its case. Now, it’s deliberation time for the jury.
Read, 45, is accused of killing her boyfriend, Braintree native and Boston police officer John O’Keefe, by backing into him with her SUV outside a Canton home in January 2022 and leaving him to die in a snowstorm following a night of drinking.
But defense attorneys for Read say she was framed for O’Keefe’s death.
Read’s first trial in Norfolk Superior Court ended in a mistrial July 1, 2024.
How did jury deliberations go in Karen Read’s first murder trial?
Jury deliberations in Read’s first murder trial lasted five days before Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial.
The jury began deliberations right after closing arguments. The jury returned three days later telling Judge Cannone they were “unable to reach a unanimous verdict.” Cannone heard from lawyers for the prosecution and defense and then sent them back to deliberate further given the amount of evidence they had heard.
The following day, after about two hours of deliberations, the jury sent Cannone a note stating they remained divided despite their best efforts to reach a verdict. Cannone in response gave the jurors the Tuey-Rodriguez charge, a special set of instructions often read to deadlocked juries. The instructions are derived from a pair of state Supreme Judicial Court cases.
But the jury of six men and six women returned again that afternoon telling Cannone they could not reach a verdict. Cannone then declared a mistrial.
What is a mistrial? What is a hung jury?
When a jury deadlocks and can’t reach a verdict, a judge declares a mistrial. It is also called a hung jury.
This means the trial can start all over again from the beginning with a new jury. The district attorney decides whether or not to bring the case forward again. This would not violate the constitutional prohibition on “double jeopardy” because no verdict was reached.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Karen Read: How long could jury deliberate in her murder trial?