Live updates: Karen Read acquitted of murder of boyfriend John O'Keefe, but found guilty of drunk driving

CNN

5 hours ago

Update:
Date: 27 min ago
Title: Read's brother says "hopefully in time" their lives will go back to normal after murder acquittal
Content:
The years of fighting her case in court has taken a toll not just on Karen Read, but on her family too.
Read's older brother, Nathan Read, told CNN affiliate WCVB that he has watched his parents age through the process.
'My dad's 77, my mom's 75. We wanted this to end with the greatest possible news and I think we got that today,' he said.
Her brother said 'hopefully in time' their lives will go back to normal, but tonight he said the family will celebrate with 'a really big dinner.'
A jury convicted Read of drunk driving, but found her not guilty of the murder of her boyfriend, John O'Keefe.
Read's defense has maintained that she had been framed and that off-duty law enforcement officers were responsible for his death.
'Sorry for their loss. We've always felt that way. John was a good man,' Nathan Read said.
Update:
Date: 1 hr 1 min ago
Title: Watch the scene as the verdict is read in the Karen Read trial
Content: Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman accused of drunkenly striking her off-duty police officer boyfriend and leaving him to die in January 2022, was acquitted of the most serious charge of second-degree murder. She was found guilty on a lesser charge of drunk driving. Read was sentenced to one-year probation and will not serve any jail time.
Update:
Date: 54 min ago
Title: Loud and excited supporters greeted Read as she walked out of the courthouse after verdict
Content:
The scene outside the courthouse this afternoon when Karen Read came out to address her supporters was loud and full of energy.
As she descended the courthouse steps to a podium, hundreds of people gathered screamed and cheered.
Read waved and made the American Sign Language gesture for 'I love you,' something her supporters have been doing throughout the trial.
The supporters have congregated in recent days in a sea of pink outside the courthouse, waiting for a verdict.
The crowd is made up of people (and pets) of all demographics, including kids and dogs.
The continued to cheer and chant until Read got into a car and drove away from the scene in Dedham, Massachusetts.
Update:
Date: 1 hr 13 min ago
Title: Karen Read's father acknowledges daughter's strength following verdict
Content:
Karen Read's father Bill Read, speaking outside the courthouse in Dedham, Massachusetts, this afternoon acknowledged the strength of his daughter following the reading of the verdict.
'I want to acknowledge the strength of our daughter, Karen, the support of the entire Read extended family,' he said before going on to acknowledge what he called 'the greatest team of attorneys.'
The jury in her second murder trial found her guilty of drunk driving, but not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.
'We thank everybody for their support from the heart,' he said. 'We love you all. All of the content providers, you helped spread the word. Thank you so much. God bless you all.'
Update:
Date: 1 hr 21 min ago
Title: Read thanks legal team and supporters and says she has fought for justice for John O'Keefe
Content:
Karen Read thanked her legal team after being found not guilty of killing her boyfriend, John O'Keefe in 2022.
Outside the courthouse, speaking to a crowd of people dressed in pink and firing off pink confetti, Read thanked her supporters.
'I could not be standing here without these amazing supporters who have supported me and my team financially and more importantly emotionally for almost four years,' she said.
She also said, 'No one has fought harder for justice for John O'Keefe than I have. Than I have, and my team.'
Read's defense had maintained that she had been framed and off-duty law enforcement officers were responsible for O'Keefe's death.
Update:
Date: 44 min ago
Title: Here's why the defense was successful in court this time around, according to a former litigator
Content:
Karen Read's first murder trial ended in a mistrial after the jury deadlocked on the charges and reported it could not come to a unanimous verdict. This time around Read was acquitted of the most serious charge of second-degree murder as well as leaving the scene of an accident resulting in the death of her off-duty police officer boyfriend.
According to former litigator Lisa Bonner, the retrial verdict was different from the first due to the defense's 'vigorous cross-examination of the prosecution's witnesses.'
'I think that they went a lot harder,' Bonner told CNN's Jake Tapper.
She went on to note that 'there was a lot of police misconduct that was brought to the front' and that it was 'a very effective defense.'
'The defense seemed to learn from the mistakes that they made last time and really just thinking that they might have had it in the bag, and really came back and vigorously put on a defense where they gave — you only need one to come up with reasonable doubt and they provided enough evidence it seems to really talk about and come back with a verdict that said, 'No, she did not do these things,' Bonner said.
Read was found guilty of drunk driving and was sentenced to one year of probation, but will not face jail time.
CNN's Eric Levenson contributed reporting.
Update:
Date: 1 hr 26 min ago
Title: NOW: Karen Read speaks outside courthouse after being acquitted of killing boyfriend
Content:
Karen Read is now speaking outside the courthouse after being acquitted of killing her boyfriend.
The jury in her second murder trial found her guilty of drunk driving, but not guilty of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.
Read, as in her first murder trial, did not take the stand. However, jurors did hear her words when prosecutors played several clips from interviews and a documentary in which she participated.
Update:
Date: 1 hr 38 min ago
Title: Read supporters celebrate outside courtside while also blasting district attorney
Content:
The crowd outside the courthouse is chanting 'Morrissey sucks,' referring to the Michael Morrissey, the Norfolk County district attorney who initially brought the murder charges against Karen Read.
'I've never seen this before. I've covered so many trials and they are very high-profile trials that have massive crowds like this, but they always hate the defendant,' CNN correspondent Jean Casarez said.
Many in the crowd are wearing pink, in support of Read. They are holding up their phones and cheering, waiting for Read to come out of the courthouse.
They also started singing 'God Bless America' at one point.
Update:
Date: 1 hr 48 min ago
Title: Karen Read will not serve any jail time
Content:
Karen Read will not spend any time in jail after being acquitted of the most serious charges during her second murder trial.
She will serve 1-year probation, according to the judge.
The only charge she was convicted of was drunk driving. Because Read is a first time offender, after the verdict was read, the judge agreed to the year of probation, which was the Commonwealth's sentencing recommendation.
Update:
Date: 1 hr 53 min ago
Title: Tearful Read hugs her lawyers and others in the courtroom after verdict
Content:
After the verdict was read in court, Karen Read hugged her lawyers and others supporting her in the courtroom.
Wearing a light blue suit, she appeared to be crying and holding a tissue as he greeted those standing behind the defense table.
A jury found Read was found not guilty for killing her boyfriend in 2022.
Supporters of Read outside the courthouse cheered loudly when they learned of the verdict from inside. Throughout both trials, Read's supporters donned pink and championed her claims of innocence and echoed allegations of police corruption.
Update:
Date: 1 hr 51 min ago
Title: Karen Read acquitted of killing her police officer boyfriend
Content:
Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman accused of drunkenly striking her off-duty police officer boyfriend and leaving him to die in January 2022, was found guilty of drunk driving on Wednesday — though she was acquitted of the most serious charge of second-degree murder.
Read was also found not guilty of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.
She had pleaded not guilty to all charges, including vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. For the manslaughter charge, however, jurors were able to consider the lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter, motor vehicle homicide and operating under the influence.
She was sentenced to one-year probation. She was not sentenced to jail time.
Update:
Date: 2 hr 3 min ago
Title: Who's who of lawyers in Karen Read's retrial
Content:
The retrial of Karen Read was a rematch for the legal teams — a chance to prove their case after Read's last trial ended with a hung jury.
Here's who's who:
The prosecution:
Among others, the defense includes:
Update:
Date: 2 hr 8 min ago
Title: There was a false alarm on a verdict earlier today
Content:
The parties in Karen Read's retrial for the death of John O'Keefe were summoned back to the courthouse in Dedham, Massachusetts, earlier today after jurors apparently indicated they had reached a verdict — only to change their minds by the time Judge Beverly Cannone returned to the bench.
'But before I could summons everybody into court, shortly thereafter, they knocked again and said they didn't have a verdict,' Cannone said as CNN's count of jurors' deliberations reached 21 hours.
The judge directed the court officer to place the verdict slip into an envelope and seal it. Cannone showed the envelope to the courtroom and said it would remain sealed and entered into the court record. She offered no details about what was included on the verdict slip, including whether it had been filled out.
Shortly after the jury said it had changed their minds, the jurors notified the court they actually did come to a verdict. It is expected to be read in court shortly.
Update:
Date: 2 hr 12 min ago
Title: JUST IN: Jury reaches verdict in Karen Read's second murder tial
Content:
Jurors have reached a verdict in Karen Read's second murder trial, according to the Norfolk Superior Court clerk. Read is accused of killing her boyfriend Boston police officer John O'Keefe in 2022.
The jury deliberated for about 21 hours over four days.
Read has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and leaving the scene of a collision resulting in death. She faces up to life in prison if found guilty of second-degree murder.
Update:
Date: 2 hr 9 min ago
Title: Here are some of the questions jurors asked during deliberations
Content:
The jury has reached a verdict in the second murder trial of Karen Read, but over their several days of deliberations, they sent some questions to the judge.
In one, jurors asked: 'If we find not guilty on two charges but can't agree on one charge, is it a hung jury on all three charges, or just one charge?'
Judge Beverly Cannone — who said the defense at first wanted her to ignore the question entirely — indicated that would be premature. She decided, over the defense's objections, to send jurors a note saying, 'This is a theoretical question, not a question I can answer.'
Read has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.
The last trial: After Read's first trial ended with a hung jury, her defense attorneys claimed several jurors had come forward to say they had unanimously found Read not guilty of the murder and leaving the scene counts, and had deadlocked only on the charge of vehicular manslaughter.
Some of the other questions included:
Update:
Date: 2 hr 13 min ago
Title: Karen Read's supporters waited outside courthouse for verdict
Content:
As the jury deliberated, supporters of Karen Read waited outside the Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts.
The sharply divergent theories on each side have split these suburbs outside Boston for the better part of three years. On one side, Read's supporters don pink, champion her claims of innocence and echo allegations of police corruption.
They have congregated in recent days in a sea of pink outside the courthouse, holding their hands up in the American Sign Language gesture for 'I love you,' rather than loudly chant 'Free Karen Read.'
Meanwhile, O'Keefe's family and close friends, much more subdued, wear blue. But CNN has not seen them outside the courthouse among Read's advocates, only glimpsing them as they walk into and out of the courthouse, escorted by law enforcement.
Update:
Date: 2 hr 5 min ago
Title: What we heard in closing arguments
Content:
The closing arguments Friday mark the apex of not one, but two trials that have divided these suburbs south of Boston for the better part of three years, spawning a vocal contingent of court watchers who fiercely advocate for the defendant, echo her allegations of police corruption and chant, 'Free Karen Read.'
Each side had one hour and 15 minutes on Friday to sum up their cases. Prosecutors tried to synthesize the many threads they explored into one compelling story, while the defense worked to seed enough 'reasonable doubt' in jurors' minds to convince them the Commonwealth failed to meet its burden of proof.
Both were hoping their version resonated with jurors to render a verdict in their side's favor – something each side was denied at the conclusion of the first trial last July, when the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict after four days of deliberating, forcing Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone to declare a mistrial.
Read did not testify in either trial, though she appeared to consider the idea throughout the retrial. Prosecutors presented clips taken from interviews Read gave the media, trying to use her words against her to highlight inconsistencies in her account and bolster their theory.
The jury is deliberating the fate of Karen Read in the murder trial of her Boston Police Officer boyfriend, John O'Keefe. CNN's Jean Casarez shares the biggest moments from closing arguments of the trial. #cnn #news #karenread #johnokeefe #karenreadtrial
Update:
Date: 2 hr 3 min ago
Title: Prosecution has used a host of data to argue its case. What to know about 36 key steps
Content:
Earlier in the second murder trial of Karen Read, prosecutors argued that 36 steps recorded by a health app could be pivotal in the case.
Read is on trial for allegedly backing her SUV into John O'Keefe, her boyfriend and a Boston police officer, killing him. The defense, however, is arguing O'Keefe was killed by other people inside the house.
The health app information — just one of the many pieces of data the commonwealth is using in its case — maps out O'Keefe's last movements. Prosecutors called a forensic examiner to the stand, who testified about this location data to show O'Keefe didn't go into the house.
Watch a recap of the critical evidence: