Northeast
Karen Read appeals double jeopardy ruling to US Supreme Court
With jury selection underway for her second murder trial in the death of Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, attorneys for Karen Read are appealing a lower court’s ruling that she is not facing double jeopardy to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Read’s first trial ended with a mistrial last year, but her lawyers have argued that the jury agreed unanimously that she was not guilty of two of the three charges, including the most serious of murder, and that keeping those on the books for her second trial is unconstitutionally placing her on trial twice for the same crime.
This agreement was unannounced at trial, however.
PROBE OF TOWN POLICE IN KAREN READ CASE FINDS NO SIGN OF ‘CONSPIRACY TO FRAME’ SLAIN OFFICER’S GIRLFRIEND
Karen Read exits Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts, on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (Dario Alequin for Fox News Digital)
According to the 149-page filing, Read’s lawyers are presenting the high court with two questions:
- Whether a final and unanimous, but unannounced, decision by a jury following trial that the prosecution failed to prove a defendant guilty of a charged offense constitutes an acquittal precluding retrial under the Double Jeopardy Clause.
- Whether a defendant who produces credible evidence of such a final, unanimous, and unannounced acquittal is entitled to a post-trial hearing to substantiate the fact of such acquittal.
KAREN READ AND JOHN O’KEEFE: INSIDE EVOLUTION OF BOSTON MURDER MYSTERY SINCE JULY MISTRIAL
Officer John O’Keefe poses for his official headshot. O’Keefe’s girlfriend, Karen Reed, is currently on trial for murder after he was found dead outside a Massachusetts home in January 2022. (Boston Police Department)
The Fifth Amendment guarantees constitutional protection from facing double jeopardy – trial or punishment for the same offense twice.
After a mistrial, a retrial can normally proceed – but Read’s lawyers argue the unique circumstances in her case place her under double jeopardy on the two charges jurors agreed on but did not announce.
GO HERE FOR FULL COVERAGE OF THE 2ND KAREN READ TRIAL
Karen Read and John O’Keefe pose in an undated photo. (Karen Read)
Over days of stalled deliberations, jurors repeatedly sent notes to the court explaining they were at an impasse, and Judge Beverly Cannone instructed them to keep trying. Deliberations began on June 25, 2024. By July 1, with jurors still deadlocked, the judge declared a mistrial.
In their appeal, Read’s lawyers said the judge did not give counsel for either side the opportunity to speak and dismissed the jury without asking them if they were locked on all charges or any charges individually.
KAREN READ JURY SELECTION: DOZENS IN POOL ALREADY HAVE AN OPINION ON THE CASE
Karen Read sits in court during jury selection at Norfolk County Superior Court on Thursday, April 18, 2024 in Dedham, Massachusetts, for her first trial. (David McGlynn/New York Post via AP, Pool)
The next day, a juror identified as Juror A contacted Read’s attorney, Alan Jackson, and told him that the panel had “unanimously agreed that Karen Read is not guilty of Count 1 (second-degree murder),” according to the lawsuit.
Text messages purportedly sent from Juror B expressed similar claims, according to the lawsuit. Jurors C and D also reached out to Read’s team with similar versions of events, according to the filing.
Additionally, at least one juror said it in a voicemail for prosecutors.
FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME TEAM ON X
Karen Read smiles as defense attorney David Yannetti speaks to reporters in front of Norfolk Superior Court after the judge declared a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a verdict following a two-month trial on Monday, July 1, 2024 in Dedham, Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
“It was not guilty on second degree,” Juror B wrote in a text shared with another Read attorney, David Yannetti. “And split in half for the second charge…I thought the prosecution didn’t prove the case. No one thought she hit him on purpose or even thought she hit him on purpose.”
In a phone conversation, Read’s lawyers claim Juror B clarified the second sentence of that text, saying it should have read, “No one thought she hit him on purpose or even knew that she had hit him.”
SIGN UP TO GET TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTER
Judge Beverly Cannone looks over the verdict slip the jurors have to fill out when they reach a verdict in Karen Read’s murder trial on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
The murder charge was “off the table,” according to the filing, and Juror A also said jurors agreed that Read was not guilty of leaving the scene.
Read was arrested on charges of drunken driving, manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident, and later indicted for the additional charge of second-degree murder after she allegedly backed into O’Keefe outside a party and drove away, leaving him to die on the ground in a snowstorm.
If her appeal is successful, she would just face the manslaughter charge.
Karen Read appears with her attorneys, Alan Jackson and David Yannetti, during the first day of jury selection at Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday, April 1, 2025 in Dedham, Massachusetts. (Nancy Lane/The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Appellate courts in Massachusetts have already denied her request, finding that because no verdict had been read in court, she was not acquitted of any charges and is not facing double jeopardy. Her legal team turned to the nation’s highest court this week, asking them to review a lower court’s decision and for a post-trial hearing on the matter.
Read could face life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder at her second trial, which began Tuesday. She has pleaded not guilty and denied involvement in O’Keefe’s death, with her defense presenting her as a scapegoat being framed by the alleged true killers.
Read the full article from Here
Northeast
Rhode Island teacher accused of sexting, kissing high school boy
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
A married high school physical education teacher has been indicted on two counts of third-degree sexual assault after being accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a male student.
Alisha Crins is accused of exchanging sexually suggestive messages and engaging in sexual contact with the student while he was enrolled at Ponaganset High School in Rhode Island as a 17-year-old, according to an affidavit cited by WPRI.
The investigation began after the former student filed a formal complaint with Rhode Island State Police in October, the documents obtained by WPRI show.
According to the affidavit, the student told investigators Crins began texting him while he was a sophomore after allegedly finding his cellphone number online.
A sign marks the main entrance to Ponaganset High School in Rhode Island. (Google Maps)
He said she initially asked him to do work for her while she was on vacation, but the two continued communicating through text messages and social media after that plan fell through.
The student alleged the relationship escalated during his junior year. He told investigators Crins frequently complimented his appearance and once asked to wear his jersey during a school pep rally.
He further alleged Crins invited him to meet near her Cranston home, where they kissed inside his vehicle. During a later encounter, she allegedly climbed into the back seat and engaged in sexual contact, according to the affidavit. The student denied having sexual intercourse with her.
The alleged assaults took place between April 1, 2024, and June 30, 2024, according to WJAR.
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL COACH CHARGED WITH RAPING FOSTER DAUGHTER, SERVING VICTIM TEQUILA SHOTS: REPORT
A Rhode Island State Police cruiser parked near a waterfront with boats visible in the background. (Rhode Island State Police Facebook)
When questioned by investigators, Crins denied “getting physical” beyond a single kiss but admitted to flirting and exchanging text messages that contained “sexual innuendos,” the affidavit states.
She also acknowledged sending photos and videos and told investigators the two discussed plans to have sex once he turned 18, though she said they never acted on those plans.
The Foster-Glocester Regional School District said Crins resigned from her role at the school Oct. 1, 2025, according to WJAR.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
File image of a woman texting. According to an affidavit, the student told investigators Crins began texting him while he was a sophomore after allegedly finding his cellphone number online. (iStock)
In a statement obtained by the outlet, the district said it is cooperating with authorities and referred further inquiries to state police.
Fox News Digital has reached out to state police for comment.
Read the full article from Here
Boston, MA
When did Southie get richy-rich? – The Boston Globe
Write to us at startingpoint@globe.com. To subscribe, sign up here.
Born and raised in Southie, Heather Foley has seen her neighborhood morph over the past three decades of scrubbing, renovation, and new construction for higher-income new arrivals.
But even Foley was surprised to discover that her South Boston, where kids once went to the corner to buy milk and cigarettes for parents, has emerged with the city’s second-highest average income, even ahead of Charlestown and Beacon Hill.
Her first thought?: “I gotta start being nicer to my neighbors if that’s the kind of money they’re making.”
What’s a household?
Decades ago, when “Good Will Hunting” was filmed in the neighborhood and Southie was known as a working-class area, there were more kids around and maybe just a single breadwinner in some homes.
Since then, Southie saw more two-earner households, fewer kids, and spiffier rental units where three or four roommates could contribute to a “household.” The changes, along with spillover from the adjacent, pricier Seaport, or South Boston waterfront, are factors in Census data showing more than 40 percent of Southie households earn more than $200,000 a year.
Staying put
Foley, 46, a photo shoot producer, considers herself lucky. She didn’t move out to the South Shore like many neighborhood longtimers. She’s living in a family home on a block with residents — oldtimers and newer arrivals — who aren’t flipping properties for big bucks.
Another blessing, particularly valuable this winter? She has a driveway.
As a kid, she went to church and school at Gate of Heaven, St. Brigid, and St. Peter, and jokes that she’s “so sad I didn’t buy a three-decker with my First Communion money, because I probably could have.”
Waves of gentrification
She remembers the earlier waves of newcomers, when glassy sports bars like Stats Bar & Grille muscled in among longtime restaurants like Amrheins.
But now, even the popular Stats is moving out at the end of the month. The property owner is developing a five-story, mixed-use residential building at the site.
A small silver lining
Foley notes that some of the onetime “newcomers” have been here for three decades — and in some ways, have stabilized the place. Many have raised kids, who, like her son, may return to the neighborhood as young adults (albeit splitting a rented apartment with friends). Stats, the sports bar, says it will also return to the neighborhood’s thriving food scene.
“We have a lot of great restaurants now,” Foley says, “and everyone cleans up after their dog.”
Read: These maps show Boston’s wealthiest and most populous neighborhoods — plus other key trends.
🧩 6 Across: More scarce | 🌧️ 42° Another storm
Grand New Party: How do you build a statewide slate of Republicans in a Democratic state? Nearly half of the Mass. GOP candidates didn’t use to be Republicans.
Farewell advice: After nearly 15 years of health system leadership, the departing CEO of Beth Israel Lahey Health offers this advice to others.
Hitting the brakes? After an ambitious state law, Lexington welcomed a wave of new housing. Now, people there are having second thoughts.
Hyde Park fatal bus crash: The driver has been indicted.
Patriots, strippers, and hookahs: A downtown restaurant’s liquor license is in jeopardy after it allegedly hosted Patriots players and guests after their AFC Championship in January. A decision is expected today.
‘Culture of secrecy’: In a scathing report, R.I. authorities accused the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence of decades of “inaction, concealment, and revictimization” in complaints of clergy sexual abuse of hundreds of children.
Centers of suffering, campaigning: Federal immigration facilities have become backdrops for Democratic politicians seeking to fight President Trump’s immigration policies.
‘The best time to remember God’: Amid crackdowns, the Somali community leans into faith during Ramadan.
When is a reno worth it? Here’s how to judge the return on a home investment.
🧸 ‘Ted’ talk: Seth MacFarlane and the “Ted” cast talk Massholes, potty-mouthed teddy bears, and why Boston may have “the worst accent”
🩰 A ‘Black Swan’ premiere: That’s among 30 sparkling arts events happening this spring around New England. Plus, why are more artists being banned from America?
🎥 Quiz: Test yourself with the Globe’s Academy Awards quiz.
⚽ Will $7.8 million stop the World Cup from coming here? Can Foxborough’s insistence on up-front security payments force the world’s soccer governing body to send matches somewhere else this summer?
♯ Teenage dreams: The future rock stars were teenagers when they wrote songs, influenced by David Bowie and Stevie Wonder, about a fictional nightclub. A half-century later, Squeeze has reworked and is releasing those songs.
💻 Death by chatbot? A new lawsuit alleges Google’s chatbot sent a man on missions to find an android body it could inhabit. When that failed, it set a suicide countdown clock for him. (WSJ)
🍕 And a red cup, please: Fans are tracking down the few Pizza Hut Classic red-roofed restaurants that remain in the 6,200-store chain. (NYT)
Thanks for reading Starting Point.
This newsletter was edited by Heather Ciras and produced by Ryan Orlecki.
❓ Have a question for the team? Email us at startingpoint@globe.com.
✍🏼 If someone sent you this newsletter, you can sign up for your own copy.
📬 Delivered Monday through Friday.
Dave Beard can be reached at dave.beard@gmail.com. Follow him on X @dabeard.
Pittsburg, PA
As his polarizing Pitt career winds down, a banged-up Cam Corhen has saved his best for last
-
World1 week agoExclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
-
Massachusetts1 week agoMother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
-
Wisconsin3 days agoSetting sail on iceboats across a frozen lake in Wisconsin
-
Maryland4 days agoAM showers Sunday in Maryland
-
Florida4 days agoFlorida man rescued after being stuck in shoulder-deep mud for days
-
Denver, CO1 week ago10 acres charred, 5 injured in Thornton grass fire, evacuation orders lifted
-
Massachusetts2 days agoMassachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks
-
Oregon6 days ago2026 OSAA Oregon Wrestling State Championship Results And Brackets – FloWrestling