DEDHAM – Just minutes after a judge declared a mistrial in the Karen Read murder case due to a deadlocked jury, prosecutors in Massachusetts made their next move clear.
“The Commonwealth intends to re-try the case,” Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said in a statement.
When will Karen Read be back in court?
Judge Beverly Cannone has set a status conference for July 22 at 2 p.m. in Norfolk Superior Court. Read is set to appear in-person with her lawyer David Yannetti.
It could be several months or even over a year before another trial happens, legal analyst Jennifer Roman previously told WBZ-TV. She said it could be hard to do in a place where so many minds are already made up.
“If this case has to be retried, we’re going back to the same pool of people, the same Norfolk County jury pool and we’re again going to have to try to find a subset of people that really know nothing about this case, it’s going to be extraordinarily difficult,” Roman said.
Retired Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Jack Lu said that the Commonwealth’s quick recommitment to the case and Judge Cannone’s setting of a July status conference date shows a highly motivated effort to get the Karen Read retrial in motion.
“You might have a mini appeals process where it’s not given full consideration. Maybe a delay of a couple of months, if there is one. Or if you had a full appeals process it could delay a trial a year or more,” Judge Lu said.
What was Karen Read charged with?
Read was accused of hitting her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with her SUV and leaving him to die in the snow in Canton, Massachusetts, in January 2022.
The 44-year-old from Mansfield was charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence, and leaving the scene of personal injury and death. If convicted on the murder charge, Read would face up to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
What happens next for Karen Read?
WBZ-TV chief investigator Cheryl Fiandaca, who is also a lawyer, said “anything is possible” after the mistrial.
“There could be a plea deal. She can also appeal this case in addition to that, showing that there wasn’t enough sufficient evidence to convict her so there should not be another trial,” Fiandaca said. “And then the DA can decide on the charges and decide to maybe get rid of that second-degree murder charge if they think that was the problem, and that may have been the reason why the jury couldn’t come to a decision.”
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