Karen Read's attorneys seek unredacted documents from Sandra Birchmore death investigation
DEDHAM – Attorneys for Karen Read are seeking a variety of evidence from the state ahead of her second trial, including unredacted documents from the investigation into the death of Sandra Birchmore.
Read is accused of hitting and killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, with her SUV during a snowstorm after a night of heavy drinking and leaving him outside a home in Canton. She has pleaded not guilty and says she is the victim of a coverup involving law enforcement.
The former financial analyst stood trial last year, but it ended with a hung jury. Her second trial is scheduled to begin in April.
Sandra Birchmore's death
Included as part of new filings in the case on Wednesday, Read's attorneys seek a variety of discovery from prosecutors.
They are asking for an unredacted Massachusetts State Police report from Birchmore's death.
"The investigation into the death of Sandra Birchmore has involved many of the material witnesses in Ms. Read's case," defense attorneys said in the filing. "Given the similar allegations of misconduct by state actors in the Birchmore and Read cases, the statements that material witnesses in Ms. Read's case made in relation to the Birchmore investigation are relevant for impeachment and bear on the credibility of those witnesses in the instant matter."
Birchmore was 23 years old and pregnant at the time of her death in 2021. Originally, police ruled that she died by suicide inside her Canton apartment.
In August 2024, a grand jury indictment alleged that former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell strangled her to death and then staged the scene to cover it up. He is now facing federal charges.
Prosecutors allege that Farwell was having a sexual relationship with Birchmore before she was 16 years old.
New Karen Read filings
Read's attorneys say Norfolk Attorney Michael Morrissey, Canton Police Sgt. Michael Lank and Canton Police Det. Kevin Albert are among the officers involved in both cases. The filing also lists Massachusetts State Police Det. Lt. Brian Tully, who is under internal investigation and was transferred following Read's first Trial, and Lt. John Fanning were also involved in both the Birchmore and Read cases.
The defense also asked for unredacted emails, reports, and other communications involving Birchmore.
In other new filings in the Read case, defense attorneys seek all documents in Trooper Michael Proctor's internal affairs investigation. Proctor was the lead investigator in the case, and is currently undergoing a Massachusetts State Police trial board to determine his professional fate for conduct in the Read investigation.
Defense attorneys also seek any correspondence between the district attorney's office and any witness in the case.
Read's attorneys are also seeking to exclude prosecution witness James Crosby, who plans to testify on injuries to O'Keefe's arm. The defense has argued the injuries were caused by a dog attack, not Read's SUV. In their filing, Read's attorneys say Crosby has a PhD in veterinary science and is not a medical doctor.
Prosecutors filed a motion of their own this week, asking to exclude crash reconstruction experts who testified for the defense in the first trial.
The experts were not hired by the defense. They were part of a federal investigation into the handling of Read's case.
