Karen Read trial to start Tuesday after final motions hearing, Aidan "Turtleboy" Kearney won't testify
A final motions hearing was held Wednesday in the Karen Read trial as attorneys and Judge Beverly Cannone sorted out remaining issues before opening statements begin on Tuesday. During the hearing, Cannone and the prosecution agreed that Aidan "Turtleboy" Kearney won't be called as a witness after he asserted his Fifth Amendment right.
After 10 days of jury selection, the jury reached 18 people Tuesday. The jury consists of nine women and nine men, 12 who will decide Read's fate in the high-profile second trial. Read's first trial ended in 2024 with a mistrial due to a "starkly divided" hung jury.
Once the jury was finalized on Tuesday, Cannone gave attorneys from both sides the option to hold opening statements on Friday or after the holiday weekend. Both sides agreed to start the trial on Tuesday, April 22, as courts are closed Monday for Patriots' Day.
Read is accused of hitting and killing her Boston police officer boyfriend John O'Keefe with her SUV and leaving him to die in the cold outside a Canton home in 2022. Read and her defense attorneys argue that she is the victim of a coverup and is being framed by law enforcement and several other people.
Aidan "Turtleboy" Kearney won't testify
Judge Cannone heard arguments from Brennan and Timothy Bradl, the attorney for Aidan Kearney, who writes as a blogger under the name "Turtleboy." Kearney is facing witness intimidation charges over alleged behavior toward people involved in Read's trial.
Prosecutors have sought to use communications between Read and Kearney that they say show her consciousness of guilt. Kearney was included on the prosecution witness list, so he was ordered to be sequestered during the trial. He previously filed a motion asking to be exempt from the sequestration order so he can cover the trial as a member of the press.
Cannone asked Brennan if he planned to call Kearney as part of his case in chief. Brennan said he did not know, and it would depend on developments in the trial.
Bradl said that if Kearney was called, he intended to exercise his Fifth Amendment right. Brennan said that if Kearney was planning to plead the fifth, there would be no reason to call him as a witness.
Bradl offered on Wednesday to exercise Kearney's Fifth Amendment right on his behalf ahead of the trial, but Brennan said he wanted Kearney to do so himself. "We'd reject that invitation," Brennan said. "If he wants to assert the Fifth amendment privilege he can assert it."
After a brief recess to discuss the issue with his attorney, Kearney returned to the courtroom and met with Cannone at sidebar along with Bradl.
Following the sidebar, Cannone ruled, as she did in Read's first trial, that Kearney must leave the courtroom when any witness who he is charged with intimidating takes the stand. She agreed, as did the prosecution, that Kearney would have a valid argument for why he would invoke the fifth amendment.
Outside court, Kearney told reporters "This is all theater."
"For a guy who says the defense is using too much theater, this guy loves theater," Kearney said of Brennan. "He lives for it."
ARCCA witnesses
The topic of expert crash reconstruction witnesses from ARCCA who testified during Read's first trial came up again on Wednesday. The ARCCA witnesses are Daniel Wolfe and Andrew Rentschler. Both were hired by the federal government as part of its now-closed investigation into the handling of the case.
They testified that O'Keefe's injuries were not consistent with being hit by a car.
Cannone admonished defense attorney Alan Jackson during a March pretrial hearing for "repeated misrepresentations" regarding the defense's relationship with Wolfe and Rentschler.
Defense attorneys had portrayed them as neutral witnesses who they had little contact with, but special prosecutor Hank Brennan said the court obtained a bill from ARCCA to the defense for nearly $24,000. Brennan added in the March hearing that there are emails between Read's team and the experts, with Wolfe writing in one email, "If you don't want me to say this, that's fine."
Though Cannone scolded Jackson and the defense team at the time, she denied the prosecution's request to exclude the ARCCA witnesses.
On Wednesday, Brennan sought additional discovery, including communications between Read's attorneys and the witnesses as well as full billing information and more testing documents.
"My tolerance about this ongoing development of discovery is an extraordinary problem for me. This is the No. 1 issue I anticipated and that I've tried to prevent," Brennan said.
"The No. 1 issue that Mr. Brennan has anticipated and tried to prevent is ARCCA testifying. Let's just call it like it is," Jackson responded.
Brennan said he requests that Cannone allow the ARCCA witnesses to testify, but to make sure they are confined to their initial report from the first trial. Jackson accused Brennan of "feigned indignation" and said "there's no ambush."
Cannone did not make any ruling on the ARCCA witnesses.
Also on Wednesday, prosecutors said they want independent witnesses to read Karen Read and John O'Keefe's text messages at trial, almost like narrators. "It seems to add a theater to the text messages that are inappropriate," Jackson said.
Motion to exclude dog bite testimony
Brennan argued a previously filed motion during Wednesday's hearing in an effort to exclude anticipated testimony from Garrett Wing about injuries to O'Keefe's arm. Wing is expected to testify that the wounds are consistent with injuries from a dog bite.
Brennan argued that Wing has no experience in pattern recognition analysis or training, and he doesn't believe he has ever testified in court. Brennan asked for a hearing that would allow attorneys to question Wing without jurors present.
Robert Alessi, one of Read's attorneys, called Wing "one of, if not the country's leading experts in training law enforcement" in handling K-9s. He said Wing has "extensive experience" with wound recognition.
Judge Cannone did not rule on the prosecution's motion.
Karen Read trial to begin next week
Facing charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene of personal injury and death, Read has pleaded not guilty.
"A little more tired, but I feel strong. I feel stronger every day," Read said outside court Wednesday.
On Tuesday, prosecutors officially said in a new filing they plan to use Read's own words against her at trial, something they had previously hinted at, starting with opening statements. Prosecutors are planning to play Read's various media interviews she has conducted in recent months.
Read said recently outside of court that Jackson will be responsible for the defense's opening statement. During Read's first trial, it was attorney David Yannetti who handled those duties.
How to watch Karen Read trial
The Karen Read trial will be streaming live on CBS News Boston right through the verdict.
For a full timeline of the Karen Read case, click here.
