A Massachusetts woman accused of killing her boyfriend by hitting him with an SUV lost a bid to have the charges thrown out ahead of her second trial.
Karen Read, 44, already faced a jury trial once on 2nd-degree murder charges only to have the jury deadlock, leading to a mistrial in July 2024. The state's highest court denied her bid to throw out the charges,the decision likely paves the way for a second trial.
Read is accused of hitting her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe, and leaving him to die outside a friend's home in January 2022, CourtTV reported. Read has denied the charges and alleges that something happened at the house that was covered up.
Read's request was to have two of the three charges against her thrown out, arguing that jurors were actually unanimous in acquitting her on the 2nd-degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident charge, Boston 25 reported. Read's defense team argued the only charge the jury deadlocked on was manslaughter.
However, the Massachusetts Supreme Court disagreed. The jury sent multiple notes to the judge during their deliberations, and the court ruled that the jury's third and final note implied they were deadlocked on all charges, CourtTV reported.
