Read, 44, is accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O’Keefe, by drunkenly and intentionally hitting him with her Lexus SUV after dropping him at an after-hours gathering at the home of another Boston police officer in Canton in January. 2022. The couple had been drinking heavily and their relationship was on the rocks, prosecutors have said.
Read, a financial analyst from Mansfieldhas claimed she is being framed as part of a vast law enforcement conspiracy. She and her lawyers have said she left after dropping O’Keefe off, alleging he was beaten by people inside the home – and possibly bitten by a dog – before being dumped in the yard to die.
Read found O’Keefe’s body in the snow several hours later.
The case, with its dueling stories surrounding the death of a police officer and allegations of government corruption, has drawn national attention. For months, pink-clad supporters turned up at Read’s court hearings.
In July, the jury told Judge Beverly Cannone they were hopelessly deadlocked, and she declared a mistrial. But in the following weeks, several jurors contacted both the prosecution and the defense to say they had agreed that Read was not guilty of murder and leaving the scene, remaining divided only on the charge of manslaughter by operating under the influence.
Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey have promised to try to read again on all three points. A second trial is scheduled for January, but both sides trying to push it back to April.
Read’s lawyers say so would violate Read’s rights against double jeopardy to be tried again for murder and leave the scene. They filed a motion with Cannone to have those charges thrown out, or, failing that, for Cannone to bring back jurors to ask them for more information about what happened. Cannone denied the motion and agreed DA’s office that since the jury had not returned a verdict, there was no official decision.
Read, who says she has spent more than $5 million in her defense, appealed, leading to Wednesday’s hearing before the Supreme Court.
There is little case law surrounding this situation, legal experts have said.
Sean Cotter can be reached at sean.cotter@globe.com. Follow him @cotterreporter. Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.
