Karen Read hearing focuses on missing Canton police video footage ahead of second trial
DEDHAM – The Karen Read case was back inside a Dedham, Massachusetts courtroom Thursday as attorneys discussed potential evidence for her second trial and who should have to pay for a defense expert who says he was unsuccessfully able to analyze video from the Canton Police Department.
Read is accused of hitting and killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, after a night of heavy drinking in January 2022 and leaving him to die in the snow outside a Canton home. Read's defense argues that she is being framed and is the victim of a coverup by several people, including law enforcement.
Missing video in Karen Read trial
Thursday's hearing at Norfolk Superior Court included discussions about video footage from inside the Canton Police Department's sallyport.
Read's legal team wants the state to pay for travel expenses for one of her defense experts.
That defense expert charged $12,230 to examine the security system at the Canton Police Department. Defense attorney Alan Jackson said Canton police did not preserve the footage, but that was not discovered until the expert arrived. Read's defense argues that the expert's trip was a waste of time as a result.
Jackson called the search for the missing footage a "fool's errand."
"There is no log. You get no footage. You get no log. This was a complete and utter waste of time," Jackson said in court.
Special prosecutor Hank Brennan said he has tried to give the defense "the best opportunity I can to get what they want."
"If I stand back and do nothing ... there are claims that just float out in nowhere and a lie unchecked becomes the truth. So I must stand before you and tell you what happened," Brennan told the judge, adding the defense has "distorted this into some type of injustice."
Brennan said he did not attempt to mislead the defense. He added that he did not believe there would be video when the expert arrived, but he did not know for certain.
"This is not a set up," Brennan said. "You should deny their motion. Nobody was misled. They've taken a professional courtesy and parlayed it into a misjustice."
Jackson responded, claiming the missing video evidence is exculpatory.
"None of this is our fault. We didn't do this. It's all on the Commonwealth's shoulders," Jackson said.
Judge Beverly Cannone did not rule on the motion during the hearing. Later in the evening, she issued a written ruling denying the defense's request.
Karen Read motion to dismiss
Jackson plans to file a new motion to dismiss. Cannone gave the defense until February 21 to file the motion, extending from the previous deadline of February 11.
The prosecution will then have until February 28 to respond.
A hearing on the motion to dismiss will be held on March 4.
Read's second trial is scheduled to begin on April 1.
Google search expert ruling
Brennan had attempted to argue that there should be a hearing to determine whether defense expert witness Richard Green can testify. Read's defense plans to have Green testify again about witness Jennifer McCabe's controversial Google searches.
On Thursday, Cannone ruled that there is no reason Green cannot testify, and denied Brennan's motion.
Prosecutors said the Google searches about how long it would take for someone to die in the cold took place just after 6 a.m. as McCabe and Read searched for O'Keefe.
Green testified as a defense expert in the first trial that data shows the search happened at 2:27 a.m., hours before O'Keefe's body was found.
Who is Karen Read?
Read, a 44-year-old financial analyst who was living in Mansfield at the time of O'Keefe's death, has pleaded not guilty in the case.
She is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene of personal injury and death.
Read's first trial ended in a mistrial after the jury said it was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
