Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Karen Read

Dedham, Massachusetts criminal defense lawyers represented the Defendant charged with econd-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene of an accident causing death.



On June 9, 2022, Read was charged in three separate indictments with second-degree murder in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws c. 265, § 1 (Count 1); manslaughter while operating under the influence of alcohol in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws c. 265, § 13½ (Count 2); and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws c. 90, § 24(2)(a½)(2) (Count 3).



Karen Read was accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, in January 2022. Prosecutors allege Read hit O'Keefe with her vehicle and left him to die as Boston was hit with a major blizzard. Read has denied the allegations and maintained her innocence.



"John O'Keefe, a Boston police officer, was found dead outside the home of another police officer in Canton, Mass., in a winter storm in early 2022. His girlfriend, Karen Read, had dropped him there to go to a party after the couple spent an evening out drinking at area bars (yes, in the storm). Read was indicted for murder by a Norfolk County grand jury and pleaded not guilty. The Commonwealth's theory was that the couple had fought, and in a drunken rage, Read had backed her car into O'Keefe, killing him. Read hired an excellent team of lawyers, who proposed an alternative theory of the crime: O'Keefe had been killed inside the house and his body left out in the snow. According to Read's lawyers, the people in the house lied to cover up the crime and planted evidence. The Commonwealth's case was not helped by a flawed investigation. One of the lead investigators, state trooper John Proctor, had to admit in his trial testimony that he had been looking for nude photos of Read when he searched her phone. And there were some odd facts. For instance, one of the people in the house had searched on Google for "hos[sic] long to die in cold” in the early hours, before the body was found. But there was testimony that Read said, "I hit him,” repeatedly, and O'Keefe's DNA was found on a piece of broken taillight from the car, found at the scene (the defense argued it was planted evidence)."



On June 9, 2022, Read was charged in three separate indictments with second-degree murder in

violation of Mass. Gen. Laws c. 265, § 1 (Count 1); manslaughter while operating under the influence of

alcohol in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws c. 265, § 13½ (Count 2); and leaving the scene of a collision

resulting in death in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws c. 90, § 24(2)(a½)(2) (Count 3).

The Defendant was found not guilty of murder and/or manslaughter but guilty of DUI by a jury of seven women and five men.



"After years of speculation, weeks of testimony and two trials, Charlie DeLoach was the person who officially declared Karen Read "not guilty" in the death of John O'Keefe. The jury foreman opened up about when he came to his decision and the critical piece of evidence that swayed the jury. "