WASHINGTON (Court TV) — As Karen Read stands trial for a second time on charges that she murdered her boyfriend, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt her team a blow when it announced it would not hear her appeal.
Karen Read sits with her defense team during her trial, Thursday, April 24, 2025, at Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, Pool)
Read is charged with second-degree murder in the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe, who was found dead in the snow after a night drinking with friends in January 2022. Read’s first trial in 2024 ended in a mistrial when the jury said it could not reach a unanimous decision.
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In the weeks after the mistrial, several jurors came forward to say they had, in fact, been unanimous in wanting to acquit Read of the most serious charges. Read’s attorneys failed to convince Judge Beverly Cannone or the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to bar her retrial on the grounds of double jeopardy. They appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in a final attempt to get the charges dropped.
On Monday morning, the Supreme Court issued a list of orders, including cases the justices had determined they would not hear. Karen Read was among those denied a hearing. Read can no longer appeal the decision to other courts.
Read’s retrial is now well underway, with the prosecution presenting its case-in-chief.
