Karen Read lawyers argue motion to dismiss charges

Live stream via NBC10 Boston.

Karen Read is back in court Friday for a hearing that could significantly change her trajectory upcoming second trial.

Lawyers on both sides will argue a defense motion to dismiss two of the three charges against Read, including second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a fatal accident. Read’s lawyers argue that the allegedly deadlocked jury in Read’s first trial, which ended in a lawsuit On July 1, it unanimously ruled that she was “not guilty” of both charges.

The defense lawyers say they have received information from five jurors indicating that the jury was deadlocked only on the charge of manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle while under the influence. That charge also included the lesser included offenses of involuntary manslaughter and vehicular homicide. The Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office has indicated that prosecutors heard similar information from at least one alleged juror.

Prosecutors allege Read drunkenly and knowingly backed her SUV into her boyfriend of two years, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, after a night out with friends in Canton in January 2022. The defense claims Read was a “comfortable outsider” framed in a widespread cover-up between law enforcement agencies and witnesses.

The main question for Friday’s hearing is whether the jury’s purported consensus on two of the charges — in the absence of a formal verdict — is enough to trigger double jeopardy and prevent prosecutors from retrying those counts. The defense brought in prominent Boston-based attorney Martin G. Weinberg, who has done extensive work in the appellate process, to handle the motion to dismiss.

Read’s second trial is scheduled to begin on January 27, 2025.