Karen Read prosecutors won't get reporter's off-the-record interview notes, judge rules
DEDHAM - The judge presiding over the Karen Read case has changed her mind and reversed an earlier ruling that required a reporter to give "off-the-record" notes from an interview with the defendant to the prosecution.
Prosecutors wanted access to unedited recordings and notes belonging to journalist Gretchen Voss, whose interview with Read was published in Boston Magazine in 2023. Special prosecutor Hank Brennan said he'd use the evidence to show how Read's story has changed over time, and claimed the interview materials suggest admissions of wrongdoing.
Judge Beverly Cannone initially granted the prosecution's request back in December, but a lawyer for Voss on Friday pushed the judge to reconsider.
Ruling on off-the-record notes
"What's in those notes is really a black box," her attorney Robert Bertsche argued in court.
Bertsche said forcing Voss to hand her off-the-record notes to prosecutors would hurt her credibility as an investigative journalist.
Cannone's new ruling says the prosecution can have audio recordings of on-the-record conversations, but not the reporter's off-the-record notes. The judge acknowledged support for Voss from the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association, the New England First Amendment Coalition and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
"Voss has articulated a compelling argument that requiring disclosure of the notes poses a greater risk to the free flow of information than the other materials produced," Cannone wrote in her decision. "Conversely, the Commonwealth has not demonstrated to the Court that its need for the handwritten notes, separate from the audio recordings, outweighs the danger posed to the public interest in the free flow of information."
Who is Karen Read?
Read, 44, is a financial analyst who was living in Mansfield when she was charged in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend, John O'Keefe. Read is accused of hitting O'Keefe with her SUV and leaving him to die in the snow after a night of heavy drinking in Canton, Massachusetts in January 2022.
Read's defense team has alleged a coverup in the case involving law enforcement and others. She's pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene of personal injury and death.
Her first criminal trial ended in a mistrial with a hung jury. The second trial is set to start on April 1, and Judge Cannone told both sides last week "we really need to make sure we keep this case on track."