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The Massachusetts woman accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend in a snowy collision has lost her Massachusetts Supreme Court appeal seeking to have her case tossed on the grounds of double jeopardy after a chaotic murder trial ended in a hung jury.
Karen Read, 45, is expected to go on trial for the second time as previously scheduled in April on charges of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of a deadly accident.
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Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe died from blunt force trauma to the head and hypothermia during a January snowstorm in Canton, Massachusetts, about 15 miles outside Beantown. Prosecutors say Read hit him with her SUV and fled the scene after a drunken fight. She claimed it was an elaborate cover-up and that she had left before he suffered any injuries. Jurors couldn’t reach an agreement on which side to believe.
After a lower court denied her motion to dismiss following the mistrial, she appealed to the state’s highest court, which handed down a decision Tuesday rejecting her argument that jurors only deadlocked on one of the three charges. She wanted the remaining two thrown out.
WATCH KAREN READ: KILLER OR CONVENIENT OUTSIDER?
Karen Read departs Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts on Friday, August 9, 2024. Read, who was accused of killing her Boston police officer boyfriend with a vehicle in January 2022, was back in court Friday for a hearing discussing her defense team’s motion to dismiss.(Patriot Pics/Backgrid for Fox News Digital)
“The jury clearly stated during deliberations that they had not reached a unanimous verdict on any of the charges and could not do so,” Massachusetts Supreme Court Justice Serge Georges Jr. wrote in the court’s 35-page decision.
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Jurors told the judge in a series of notes that they were “deeply divided” over Read’s guilt of murder and other charges and could not reach an agreement.
“Only after being discharged did some individual jurors communicate a different supposed outcome, contradicting their prior notes,” Georges wrote.
KAREN READ MISTRIAL PUTS COPS IN TOUGH SPOT, OPENS DOOR FOR ACCUSED KILLER OF BOYFRIEND OFFICER TO WALK FREE
Because the jurors broke their silence only after the trial, it was too late, the court ruled.
“Such posttrial disclosures cannot retroactively alter the trial’s outcome — either to acquit or to convict,” Georges wrote. “Accordingly, we affirm the trial judge’s denial of the motion to dismiss and the defendant’s request for a posttrial juror inquiry.”
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Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe poses for his official portrait. O’Keefe’s girlfriend, Karen Reed, will have a second murder trial after the first ended with a hung jury following his death in January 2022.(Boston Police Department)
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Read’s new trial is expected to be led by a special assistant prosecutor, Hank Brennan, who once represented the mobster James “Whitey” Bulger and has already begun trying to obtain unpublished records from Massachusetts reporters who have interviewed Read.
Read the court’s decision
WATCH: DASHCAM FROM THE NIGHT JOHN O’KEEFE WAS FOUND DEAD
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“I don’t see how that was going to fly, because it was a mistrial, she wasn’t found guilty or not guilty,” said Paul Mauro, a former NYPD inspector and attorney. “Double jeopardy applies when you have a verdict. It’s in the Constitution.”
“This is settled law,” he added. “This is not double jeopardy, I agree with the court. Let’s get to a new trial and resolve this.”
The new trial is scheduled to begin on April 1.
She is also facing a wrongful death lawsuit from O’Keefe’s family.
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Read, in a recent round of interviews, argued that she was framed by the real killers, whom she believes are other members of law enforcement O’Keefe got into a fight with after she dropped him off at the home of fellow Boston Police Officer Brian Albert. O’Keefe was found dead in the snow on Albert’s front lawn.
Karen Read waits as her legal team meets at the side bar during Reid’s trial in Norfolk Superior Court, Friday, June 14, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read, 44, is accused of running into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in the middle of a nor’easter and leaving him for dead after a night of heavy drinking.(AP Photo/Charles Krupa, Pool)
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Testimony from Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor, one of the key investigators, severely hurt prosecutors in court.
Jurors were seen shaking their heads in court as Read’s defense team read some of his text messages.
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In them, he called Read a “wack job,” a “babe … with no a–” and a “c—.” He wrote that he wished she would kill herself and joked about looking for nude selfies while searching her phone.
A driver was killed in a 3-vehicle crash on the Everett Turnpike in Nashua, N.H. that also sent a Massachusetts woman, another driver and several children to the hospital, New Hampshire State Police said.
Theresa Douville of Hooksett, N.H. was driving a 2020 Honda CRV around 4:30 p.m. when she allegedly failed to slow down for traffic stopped in the northbound lane, State Police said in a statement.
She crashed into an Infiniti QX 60 driven by Gyna Santana, 35, of Lawence, who had children in her car, the statement said.
Santana’s car then hit another Infiniti QX 60 driven by Madison Berube, 30, of Hooksett, who also had chldren in the car, State Police said.
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Douville, 69, was treated at the scene for serious injuries by emergency workers. She was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, the statement said.
Santana, Berube, and multiple children from both vehicles were taken to a local hospital to be evaluated as a precaution, police said.
Three lanes of northbound traffic were shut down for about an hour while troopers processed the scene.
The crash remains under investigation.
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Adam Sennott can be reached at adam.sennott@globe.com.
Who’s the couple that climbed the Empire State Building?
Daredevil climbers Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus are making waves after their apparent proposal atop the Empire State Building.
The daredevils who climbed to the top of Empire State Building’s spire on July 1 are from New Jersey.
Angela Nikolau, 33, and Ivan Beerkus, 32, who originate from Russia, are residents of East Orange in Essex County, according to the NYPD.
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The couple climbed the antenna spire atop New York City’s most famous building to hang a large banner that read: “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace.”
Beerkus then appeared to propose to Nikolau atop the skyscraper some 1,454 feet about the Manhattan streets below.
Nikolau, wearing her trademark Catwoman-style headgear, then was seen admiring her hand and taking photographs of her ring to share on Instagram. The couple and their adventures in what has become known as “rooftopping” were the subject of a 2024 documentary called “Skywalkers: A Love Story.”
When the couple climbed down, they were arrested and charged with burglary, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, violation of local law, possession of burglar’s tools, criminal tampering, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct, according to the NYPD.
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Nikolau’s acrobatics run in the family, and her father, the Russian circus artist Dmitriy Nikolau, was aware of his daughter’s climb when answering a call from a reporter.
“I think it is normal to climb up a roof in any country, including the United States, according to any constitution,” he said. Asked if he was worried about his daughter, he said: “Why should I be worried? I climb up roofs myself.”
