Another juror in the Karen Read trial has come forward to her lawyers, they said Wednesday, to say that the jury reached a not guilty verdict on two of the three charges against Read, including murder.
The defense's filing in Norfolk Superior Court is being used as further evidence in support of their motion for Judge Beverly Cannone to dismiss the two charges brought against Read in the death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe, during a snowstorm outside a Canton home in January 2022.
Read was charged with murder in the second degree, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor and leaving a scene of personal injury and death. She pleaded not guilty, and a mistrial was declared last week after a long trial that attracted international attention. Her team claims she was framed for the killing.
On Monday, Read's lawyers said they heard directly from one juror and indirectly about the thinking of two other jurors that they would have found her not guilty on the murder and leaving a scene charges. In Wednesday's filing, they said the fourth juror, identified in the court documents as Juror D, reached out on Monday because they were "uncomfortable" over the ending of the trial.
"Juror D said it was very troubling that the entire case ended without the jury being asked about each count," defense attorney Alan Jackson said in a filing, going on to say that the only remaining disagreement on the jury was over the manslaughter charge and lesser offenses, and that they weren't sure if they could tell the judge they were unanimous on finding Read not guilty on the other two counts.
Read the Karen Read team's initial post-mistrial motion to dismiss filings here.
The Norfolk District Attorney's Office on Wednesday reiterated a previous statement, that it was reviewing the filings moving to dismiss charges one and three and anticipated responding, while looking forward to an upcoming hearing to select a date for the new trial. Their response wasn't anticipated to be filed Wednesday, according to a representative.
NBC10 Boston's Eli Rosenberg contributed to this report.
