(HorizonPost.com) – Karen Read, whose murder trial began with jury selection on April 16, appeared at a final pretrial hearing last Friday before Judge Beverly Cannone in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts, CBS News reported.
Read was indicted in June 2022 for second-degree murder in connection to the January 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe.
Prosecutors allege that Read ran over O’Keefe in her vehicle during a blizzard on January 29, 2022.
The couple had been out at a bar with friends and were invited to a party at a house in Canton. Read did not feel well, so she dropped O’Keefe off at the Canton house before going home. Read later returned several hours later after she was unable to contact O’Keefe.
The following morning, Read called a friend to say that John got hit by a snowplow. She and her friends later returned to the house where they found O’Keefe’s body outside with his clothing soaked in blood and vomit. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
According to prosecutors, Read told an emergency responder at the scene that she had hit O’Keefe. Police found her Lexus SUV at her parents’ home with its right rear taillight shattered and the rear bumper scratched.
In last Friday’s pre-trial hearing, the judge went through 30 motions with prosecutors and defense counsel. Most of the filings were mundane and were decided quickly. However, the bulk of the hearing involved a motion by the prosecution to prohibit the defense from introducing evidence to claim that O’Keefe was killed by someone else.
Prosecutor Adam Lally said the prosecution wasn’t seeking to prevent the defense from arguing that someone else was responsible for O’Keefe’s death. Instead, he only wanted “clarification” on what the alternative explanation is.
Some experts believe jury selection could be difficult in the high-profile case and anticipate the trial could take seven weeks. The prosecution and defense told the judge that they expect the case to take six weeks.
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