By Michael Casey and Patrick Whittle
Associated Press
DEDHAM, Mass. — A jury found Karen Read not guilty of second-degree murder Wednesday in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend but guilty of a lesser charge of drunken driving.
The jury handed down its decision after deliberating for at least 22 hours since June 13.
The verdict in the polarizing and highly watched case comes nearly a year after a separate jury deadlocked over Read’s involvement in the January 2022 death of John O’Keefe and resulted in a judge declaring a mistrial.
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It’s a huge victory for Read’s lawyers, who have long asserted she was framed by police after dropping O’Keefe off at a party at the home of a fellow officer. Prosecutors argued the 45-year-old Read hit O’Keefe, 46, with her SUV before driving away, but the defense maintained O’Keefe was killed inside the home and later dragged outside.
Read faced charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter and leaving the scene outside Boston. A second-degree murder conviction would have carried a life sentence.
Much like during the first trial, attorneys spent months presenting their case, featuring hundreds of pieces of evidence and dozens of witnesses.
Read’s defense said O’Keefe was beaten, bitten by a dog, then left outside a home in the Boston suburb of Canton in a conspiracy orchestrated by the police that included planting evidence.
Prosecutors have described Read as a scorned lover who chose to leave O’Keefe dying in the snow after striking him with her SUV outside the house party.
It’s the state’s second attempt to convict Read. The first Read trial ended July 1 in a mistrial due to a hung jury.
The state’s case was led by special prosecutor Hank Brennan, who called fewer witnesses than prosecutor Adam Lally, who ran the first trial against Read.
Describing O’Keefe as a “good man” who “helped people,” Brennan told jurors during closing arguments that O’Keefe needed help that night and the only person who could provide it was Read. Instead, she drove away in her SUV.
“She was drunk. She hit him and she left him to die,” he said.
Defense attorney Alan Jackson rejected the idea that there was ever a collision at all. He and the defense called forward expert witnesses who agreed.
“There is no evidence that John was hit by a car. None. This case should be over right now, done, because there was no collision,” Jackson said during closing arguments.