Boston, MA

Boston prosecutors ask state supreme court for Karen Read murder retrial

Published

1 year ago

October 17, 2024

Boston prosecutors ask state supreme court for Karen Read murder retrial

Prosecutors have called on the state’s highest court to allow them to retry Karen Read for murder in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend, arguing against defense claims that jurors had reached a verdict against some of her charges before the judge declared a mistrial.

Read is accused of ramming into John O’Keefe with her SUV and leaving him to die in a snowstorm in January 2022. Read’s attorneys argue she is being framed and that other law enforcement officers are responsible for O’Keefe’s death. A judge declared a mistrial in June after finding that jurors could not reach agreement. A retrial on the same charges is set to begin in January.

In a brief filed late on Wednesday to the Massachusetts supreme judicial court, prosecutors wrote that there was no basis for dismissing the charges of second degree murder and leaving the scene of the accident.

There was “no viable alternative to a mistrial”, they argued in the brief, noting that the jury said three times that it was deadlocked before a mistrial was declared. Prosecutors said the “defendant was afforded a meaningful opportunity to be heard on any purported alternative.

“The defendant was not acquitted of any charge because the jury did not return, announce, and affirm any open and public verdicts of acquittal,” they wrote. “That requirement is not a mere formalism, ministerial act, or empty technicality. It is a fundamental safeguard that ensures no juror’s position is mistaken, misrepresented, or coerced by other jurors.”

In the defense brief filed in September, Read’s lawyers said five of the 12 jurors came forward after her mistrial saying they were deadlocked only on a manslaughter count, and they had agreed unanimously – without telling the judge – that she was not guilty on the other counts. They argued that it would be unconstitutional double jeopardy to try her again on the counts of murder and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.

Oral arguments will be heard from both sides on 6 November.

In August, the trial judge ruled that Read could be retried on all three counts. “Where there was no verdict announced in open court here, retrial of the defendant does not violate the principle of double jeopardy,” the judge Beverly Cannone wrote.

Read’s attorney, Martin Weinberg, argued that under Cannone’s reasoning, even if all 12 jurors were to swear in affidavits that they reached a final and unanimous decision to acquit, this would not be sufficient for a double jeopardy challenge. “Surely, that cannot be the law. Indeed, it must not be the law,” Weinberg wrote.

The American Civil Liberties Union supported the defense in an amicus brief. If the justices do not dismiss the charges, the ACLU said the court should at least “prevent the potential for injustice by ordering the trial court to conduct an evidentiary hearing and determine whether the jury in her first trial agreed to acquit her on any count”.

“The trial court had a clear path to avoid an erroneous mistrial: simply ask the jurors to confirm whether a verdict had been reached on any count,” the ACLU wrote in its brief. “Asking those questions before declaring a mistrial is permitted – even encouraged – by Massachusetts rules. Such polling serves to ensure a jury’s views are accurately conveyed to the court, the parties, and the community – and that defendants’ related trial rights are secure.”

Prosecutors said Read, a former adjunct professor at Bentley College, and O’Keefe, a 16-year member of the Boston police, had been drinking heavily before she dropped him off at a party at the home of Brian Albert, a fellow Boston officer. They said she hit him with her SUV before driving away. An autopsy found O’Keefe had died of hypothermia and blunt force trauma.

The defense portrayed Read as the victim, saying O’Keefe was actually killed inside Albert’s home and then dragged outside. They argued that investigators focused on Read because she was a “convenient outsider” who saved them from having to consider law enforcement officers as suspects.

The lead investigator, the state trooper Michael Proctor, was relieved of duty after the trial revealed he had sent vulgar texts to colleagues and family, calling Read a “whack job” and telling his sister he wished Read would “kill herself”. He said his emotions had got the better of him.

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Boston, MA

Boston woman flummoxed after rat makes a home in stroller she left on porch

Published

9 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Local News

Boston Reddit did not mince words when it came to the best way of evicting this brazen stroller squatter.

A Boston woman is dealing with an unwelcome tenant on her front porch — a rat that has turned a baby stroller into a cozy winter hideaway.

The woman shared her ordeal Thursday on the r/Boston subreddit, explaining that she had left her stroller, complete with a muff, on her second-floor porch. When she checked on it later, she discovered a rat had moved in.

“I stupidly left our stroller with a muff out on the porch,” she wrote. “Today I found a big rat is nested in there. I can’t see clearly, but it seems it has chewed up the muff lining and is using the filling for a nest.”

The woman said she’s called a few pest control companies, but instead of offering immediate removal, they just tried to sell her a long-term bait boxing service.

“…Which is fine, but I urgently need someone to just safely remove the rat and the nest so I can clean or dispose of the stroller if needed,” she wrote, adding that she couldn’t secure a next-day appointment and felt Monday was too far away.

Turning to Reddit for advice, the woman asked whether she should attempt to remove the rat herself, saying she was worried about being bitten or contracting a disease. “Which professional can I call?” she asked.

Redditors reacted with a mix of humor and practical advice. The top comment began, “Sounds like it’s their porch now,” before offering an elaborate plan involving a bucket trap and joking that the rat could then “go on to be a Michelin star chef at a French restaurant,” a nod to the 2007 film “Ratatouille.”

Others suggested she evict the rat by vigorously shaking the stroller or whacking it with a broom, while many urged her to cut her losses entirely and throw the stroller out.

“I honestly wouldn’t ever use it for a small child after a rat had been cribbed up there,” one commenter wrote.

Pest control experts generally advise against handling rats without professional help. According to Terminix, rodents can become aggressive and scratch when threatened and may carry diseases such as hantavirus and leptospirosis.

“When it comes to getting rid of a rat’s nest in the house, DIY treatments won’t cut it,” the company warns on its website.

Boston has been grappling with heightened rat activity in recent years, prompting a citywide rodent action plan known as BRAP. City officials urge residents to “see something, squeak something!” and report rodent activity to 311. Officials said response teams are typically dispatched within one to two days.

Morgan Rousseau is a freelance writer for Boston.com, where she reports on a variety of local and regional news.

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Boston, MA

Boston’s new city council president talks about election and upcoming term

Published

21 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Boston’s new city council president talks about election and upcoming term

The Boston City Council is setting out on a new two-year term with a new council president at the helm.

City Councilor Liz Breadon, who represents District 9, won the gavel on a 7-6 contested vote, cobbling together her candidacy just hours before the council was set to vote.

“An opportunity presented itself and I took it,” Breadon said. “We’re in a very critical time, given politics, and I really feel that in this moment, we need to set steady leadership, and really to bring the council together.”

The process apparently including backroom conversations and late-night meetings as City Councilors Gabriella Coletta Zapata and Brian Worrell both pushed to become the next council president.

Breadon spoke on why support waned for her two colleagues.

“I think they had support that was moving,” said Breadon. “It was moving back and forward, it hadn’t solidified solidly in one place. There’s a lot of uncertainty in the moment.”

Political commentator Sue O’Connell talks about the last-minute maneuvering before the upset vote and what it says about Mayor Michelle Wu’s influence.

Some speculated that Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration was lobbying for a compromise candidate after Coletta Zapata dropped out of the race. Breadon disputes the mayor’s involvement.

“I would say not,” said Breadon. “I wasn’t in conversation with the mayor about any of this.”

Beyond the election, Breadon took a look ahead to how she will lead the body. Controversy has been known to crop up at City Hall, most recently when former District 7 Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges tied to a kickback scheme involving taxpayer dollars.

Breadon said it’s critical to stay calm and allow the facts to come out in those situations.

“I feel that it’s very important to be very deliberative in how we handle these things and not to sort of shoot from the hip and have a knee-jerk reaction to what’s happening,” said Breadon.

Tune in Sunday at 9:30 am for our extended @Issue Sitdown with Breadon, when we dig deeper into how her candidacy came together, the priorities she’ll pursue in the role and which colleagues she’ll place in key council positions.

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