Northeast
Vindicated Karen Read thanks 'greatest' legal team as jurors deliver not guilty verdict in boyfriend's death
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Karen Read, finally vindicated after two murder trials in the 2022 death of her former boyfriend, Boston cop John O’Keefe, thanked a vocal crowd of supporters Wednesday, minutes after jurors found her not guilty of all homicide-related charges.
She will serve a year on probation for drunken driving.
Read’s father, William Read, credited her legal team for the result — which spared her the maximum punishment of life imprisonment as well as multi-year stints behind bars on a series of lesser charges.
“I want to acknowledge the greatest team of attorneys,” he told her cheering supporters from the courthouse steps. “Our first one that we found was David Yannetti. We added Alan Jackson and Liza Little. Bob Alessi you know about, all right. It was a fantastic team, but we needed them all to defeat this.”
KAREN READ MURDER CASE VERDICT REACHED AFTER DEADLOCKED FIRST TRIAL
Karen Read and her legal team address the media outside of at Norfolk Superior Court, after being found not guilty of the murder of her boyfriend John O’Keefe. (Richard Beetham for Fox News Digital)
He also thanked Read’s vocal supporters and internet “content providers.”
But it was her legal team that put in the legwork. They were already high-powered lawyers from a trio of America’s largest cities: Boston, New York and Los Angeles. Now they’ve risen to new heights, experts say.
“All those lawyers can write their tickets in terms of what type of high-profile cases they want to handle moving forward, but I’m sure they want to take a break after this one,” said Maryland attorney Randolph Rice, who represents the family of Rachel Morin, a mother of five whose murder on a hiking trail at the hands of a fugitive illegal immigrant prompted congressional hearings.
FINAL DEFENSE WITNESS IN KAREN READ TRIAL PUMPS BRAKES ON LEXUS COLLISION THEORY
Karen Read’s attorney Alan Jackson talks to reporters after leaving the Norfolk County Superior Court, May 20, 2025, in Dedham, Massachusetts. (Hans Pennink for Fox News Digital)
“Trials like these take it out of you, both physically and emotionally,” he told Fox News Digital. “I’ve seen some lawyers that like to step back and do smaller cases for a while, and others like the high and want to get right back and do another one.”
But he said viewers can expect to see them making the rounds on TV and in additional documentaries.
SEE PHOTOS: The verdict
Read famously sat down for numerous interviews after her first trial — an unorthodox move that prosecutors attempted to use against her by playing soundbites for the jury. She also spoke out repeatedly during the trial, but her lawyers remained tight-lipped due to the court’s gag order.
WATCH ‘KAREN READ TRIAL LIVE’ ON FOX NATION, HOSTED BY PAUL MAURO
Defense attorney David Yannetti listens to testimony during the trial of Karen Read in Norfolk Superior Court, May 16, 2025, in Dedham. (Mark Stockwell/The Sun Chronicle, AP Pool)
“I think this catapults them into a stratosphere of representing celebrities and big cases, which furthers their fame, as long as they keep winning,” Rice said.
The Los Angeles-based Jackson has already put that theory into action. He delivered the opening and closing for the defense. He previously prosecuted music producer Phil Spector for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson and defended actor Kevin Spacey from Nantucket groping charges.
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Little works for the firm where Jackson is a partner: Werkman Jackson and Quinn.
Defense attorney Robert Alessi makes a point as he cross-examines digital forensics analyst Shanon Burgess during the Karen Read trial on May 20, 2025, in Dedham. (Matt Stone/The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Robert Alessi is a partner at the international law firm DLA Piper. Read added him to the team ahead of her second trial, in which he translated complex data through questioning of experts who discussed the details of their fields and findings.
And David Yannetti — Read’s Boston lawyer and the local lynchpin — may have the most to gain.
Even Hank Brennan, the special prosecutor who also came into the case with a high profile as the former lawyer for mobster Whitey Bulger, will likewise see a boost in his business, according to Jack Lu, a retired Massachusetts judge and Boston College law professor.
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Special prosecutor Hank Brennan during a lunch break from the Norfolk County Superior Court, May 20, 2025. (Hans Pennink for Fox News Digital)
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“They will all be flooded with new clients,” Lu told Fox News Digital. “Brennan will be catapulted to stardom because anyone can see his talent. I would say Yannetti and Brennan’s practices go national.”
As for Read, prominent lawyer turned legal analyst Linda Kenney Baden expects her to file a slew of new lawsuits against the investigators who charged her.
“Especially a civil rights lawsuit against [Michael] Proctor,” she said, referring to the former homicide detective who lost his job over texts he sent about Read’s case.
Proctor broke his silence Wednesday after the verdict, telling ABC’s “20/20” that Read’s vocal supporters were a “loud minority” in and around Canton, Massachusetts.
When asked if he planted evidence, he denied the insinuation.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “I’m laughing because it’s such a ridiculous accusation. It’s something I would never do, have never done – and there’s no evidence of it.”
He declined a request for an interview with Fox News Digital.
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New York
Man Sentenced to 115 Years for Killing N.Y.P.D. Officer in Queens
A man was sentenced to 115 years in prison on Monday for the fatal shooting of a New York City police officer who had ordered him to step out of a car in Queens in 2024.
More than 200 people, mostly police officers, packed a courtroom in State Supreme Court in Queens to hear Justice Michael Aloise sentence Guy Rivera in the killing of Jonathan Diller, 31, who was promoted to the rank of detective after his death.
“It took me five minutes to calculate these numbers,” Justice Aloise said. “It’s going to take you a lifetime to calculate the damage you did and the grief that you caused.”
He said that Mr. Rivera had determined his own fate “the second you pulled that trigger.”
Detective Diller’s wife, Stephanie, who sat among the officers in the courtroom, read a statement in court just before the sentencing, speaking of the pain and loss that she and her son, Ryan, now 3, have suffered. Ms. Diller, who testified during the trial, spoke directly to Mr. Rivera as he sat at the defense table.
“This is the last moment I will allow you to take from me,” she said as tears rolled down her cheeks. “You took my husband, Jonathan. You took the future we planned together. The life we were building, the years we were supposed to share together.”
“What you did to Jonathan” she said, “gave me and our son a life sentence without him.”
A jury found Mr. Rivera, 36, guilty earlier this month on four charges, including aggravated manslaughter, in Detective Diller’s death, but acquitted him of the most serious charge, first-degree murder. The decision, after a three-week trial in Queens, stunned the dozens of police officers present when it was announced in the courtroom on April 1.
To find him guilty of murder, the jury had to decide whether they believed Mr. Rivera had intended to kill Detective Diller when he pointed his gun at him in the Far Rockaway section of Queens on March 25, 2024. They ultimately determined that Mr. Rivera had intentionally pulled the trigger, but did not intend to kill him.
Mr. Rivera did not speak at his sentencing at the advice of one of his lawyers, Jamal Johnson, who told Justice Aloise they would appeal the conviction.
Mr. Johnson, a lawyer with the Legal Aid Society, said after the hearing that Justice Aloise’s statement at sentencing showed the court “had already made up its mind about sentencing well before the trial was conducted.”
During the trial, prosecutors said that before the fatal shooting, Detective Diller’s partner, Sgt. Sasha Rosen, saw Mr. Rivera and another man, Lindy Jones, come out of a store and get into a car. Mr. Rivera had an L-shaped object in the pocket of his sweatshirt that resembled a firearm, prosecutors said.
Detective Diller approached the vehicle and asked Mr. Rivera repeatedly to comply with orders. When he did not, Sergeant Rosen reached in to pull him out of the car.
Then Mr. Rivera fired, the jury found. The defense argued that Mr. Rivera’s gun went off accidentally when Sergeant Rosen pulled him out, striking Detective Diller. Prosecutors said Mr. Rivera then turned his gun on Sergeant Rosen, but the weapon jammed.
Justice Aloise did not allow the jury to see video that, the defense contended, showed Mr. Rivera’s arm was broken during his confrontation with the police.
That evidence would have directly undermined the prosecution’s contention that Mr. Rivera was physically able to pull the trigger when he tried to shoot Sergeant Rosen, they said.
In all, Mr. Rivera was sentenced to 25 years to life for the aggravated manslaughter conviction; 40 years to life for the attempted murder of Sergeant Rosen; and 25 years to life for each of the gun possession counts. He was ordered to serve those sentences consecutively.
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On Monday, after the sentencing, dozens of police officers smiled and embraced one another as they left the courtroom. The prosecutors who tried the case and Melinda Katz, the Queens district attorney, hugged several of Detective Diller’s family members.
Jessica Tisch, the police commissioner, called the sentence “obviously the right result, for him and for anyone who kills a New York City police officer.”
Outside the courthouse, members of the Police Benevolent Association, the police officers’ union, said they were pleased with the sentence.
“The verdict in this case did not send the right message to the Diller family and every police officer who wears the uniform,” said Patrick Hendry, the union president, who spoke at the foot of the courthouse stairwell, backed by nearly 100 police officers.
“But this sentence,” he said, “it sent the right message.”
Boston, MA
Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” musical returns to Boston for first time in 25 years
Say bonjour to the return of “Beauty and the Beast.” The national tour has been in Boston before, but this is the first time in 25 years that Disney is behind the production.
Kyra Belle Johnson stars as Belle, the bookworm who doesn’t quite fit into her quiet village.
“I think part of treating her like a real person is finding the humor and finding the faults and breathing and being present on stage every night,” Johnson said.
As Mrs. Potts, Kathy Voytko embodies the beloved teapot.
“When I was talking to my daughters about, ‘How do you feel about mom being gone for the better part of a year?’ They said, ‘Well, geez, mom, we’re gonna miss you, but it’s Mrs. Potts,’” Voytko explained.
The actors told WBZ-TV that Disney’s involvement in this tour makes a noticeable impact, with Voytko saying, “There is nothing like a Disney-produced Disney production because the magic in the show, the attention to detail, the loving recreation of the movie that we all know and love, plus some elements of surprise.”
Johnson added, “They care about this piece of art so much… And they’re really precious with it, but at the same time, they’re open with it.”
Book writer Linda Woolverton worked with the cast in the rehearsal room to make sure the piece felt modern.
“She literally changed some scenes and lines specifically for us and our versions of these characters to make it seem grounded and real,” Johnson explained.
And Johnson gained extra insight into Belle’s life by visiting the Alsace region of France, which inspired the original Disney animators.
“Walking in the town and having like a storefront and then the leaning building that was this like blue and the wooden windows and somebody leaning out of it talking to somebody on the street. These are real places, it’s not just like a made-up place in your head.”
The wonder she felt is echoed in the audience’s response.
“This is a gate for a lot of new theater lovers. We get a lot of people who this is their first show,” said Johnson.
“It’s for everybody,” added Voytko. “It’s for adults, it’s for married couples, it is for a date night, it for a pack of pals who just want to see something nostalgic from their youth and it makes it a thrill for us every single day.”
You can see Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” at the Citizens Opera House in Boston through Sunday.
Pittsburg, PA
NFL Draft in Pittsburgh sets onsite attendance record, third-best viewership mark
A historic number of people flooded into Pittsburgh for the NFL Draft on Thursday.
Around 320,000 fans attended the opening round of the draft on Thursday night just outside of Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, which marked an attendance record for round one of the draft, ESPN announced on Monday afternoon. In total, about 805,000 people attended the three-day event.
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ESPN also said that about 13,2 million people tuned in to watch the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night, which made it the third-most watched opening round under the current format, which started back in 2010. Only the 2025 and 2020 editions of the draft drew a bigger audience on the first night.
The league said that a record amount of merchandise was sold throughout the NFL Draft weekend, too, though it did not provide a figure or metric there. The previous record on that front was set last season in Green Bay.
The Las Vegas Raiders used the No. 1 overall pick on Indiana quarterback and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza on Thursday night. Mendoza, who led the Hoosiers to the national championship earlier this year, was not in attendance in Pittsburgh. Instead, he celebrated with his family from home in Miami.
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The NFL Draft will be held next spring in Washington D.C. for the first time in modern history. It’s expected to be held on the National Mall. Washington D.C. held the draft one other time back in December 1940.
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