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Boston Globe
31-03-2025
- Boston Globe
As second Karen Read trial begins, legal experts expect new approach from prosecutors
Advertisement Now, more than three years after O'Keefe's snow-covered body was found near the road outside a Canton home, As a second trial gets underway with jury selection on Tuesday, legal experts say they expect the prosecution will bring a tighter and more direct presentation of the evidence, cutting through twists and turns the case took the first time. 'Sometimes if cases go on and on, jurors lose track of what the most important issues are, and they might think there's reasonable doubt just because there was so much evidence introduced,' said Michael Cassidy, a Boston College law professor. 'The shorter and leaner the case can be is sometimes the more persuasive.' Related : Advertisement Special prosecutor Hank Brennan, 'Mr. Lally, in my opinion, is an old-style 'just the facts' prosecutor, a la the old 'Dragnet' police TV show,' said retired Superior Court judge Jack Lu. 'This is a style that is good because the prosecutor is a public official, unlike the defense lawyer. Mr. Brennan may take the battle to the defense more.' Brennan has filed a flurry of motions in recent months and sought communications Read had with one of her lawyers and A couple of new attorneys have also joined Read's defense team, including Victoria Brophey George, who Another new addition is Robert Alessi, a New York-based litigator who in pretrial hearings has delivered lengthy arguments vouching for or disputing the credentials of proposed expert witnesses. He also spoke for the defense team during a tense hearing in February when Norfolk Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone listened during a pretrial hearing in the Karen Read case on Feb. 25 in Dedham. Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger Last summer, after jurors said they were at an impasse after 30 hours of deliberations over whether Read was criminally responsible for O'Keefe's death, Cannone declared a mistrial. Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey swiftly declared his office would retry Read. Advertisement Read, 45, a former financial analyst and professor from Mansfield, is accused of hitting O'Keefe with her car in January 2022 after a night of heavy drinking that led to an argument, and then leaving him in the cold to die. Her defense team has sought to show that O'Keefe was actually beaten and possibly attacked by a dog before being left to die by people at a party at the Canton home of a fellow Boston police officer. Her lawyers allege she is being scapegoated in a massive law enforcement coverup. A protester's shadow was cast on a Karen Read banner during a rally where the groups Free Karen Read, Justice for Sandra Birchmore, and Justice for Juston Root protested together outside of the Norfolk district attorney's office in Canton on Nov. 13. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff In the days leading up to the second trial, attorneys for both sides have argued over whether a 'It will really depend on how she rules on' the third-party culprit defense, 'whether the prosecutor is able to eliminate some of the evidence that the defense wants to put on about relationships between people in that house and the victim,' Cassidy said. Read's attorneys have made multiple attempts to stop the second trial. They've argued that a Advertisement The defense's arguments to nix a second trial stemmed from revelations made by jurors last summer after the first trial ended, when Related : Read's attorneys argued that Cannone improperly declared a mistrial because jurors acquitted Read of the two counts. Thus, they said, she should not face a second trial on those charges. But in his order dismissing their claims, US District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV wrote that he saw 'no basis to conclude that the trial judge's decision to declare a mistrial was incorrect or improper.' Developments outside the courtroom have also continued to affect the case. Earlier this month, State Police fired Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator on Read's case. Proctor had been Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor faced a tough cross examination by defense attorney Alan Jackson during Karen Read's first trial on June 12. Greg Derr/Pool Cassidy said he expects prosecutors will try to avoid putting Proctor back on the stand or limit the scope of their questions. Both defense attorneys and prosecutors listed Proctor as a prospective witness. Advertisement 'I don't think there's any way to avoid the fact that Proctor's fingerprints were all over that case, and he was the lead agent, and he was fired,' he said. 'The question is how much the prosecutor relies on his testimony. If I were the prosecutor, I would try to prove the case without Proctor.' Jack Carney (right) of Canton, waved to honking drivers in Dedham on July 14. With their signs and flags, Karen Read supporters continued their dedication to her on a sidewalk along Providence Highway in Dedham after her mistrial. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff Whether the second trial will draw the same public attention as the first remains to be seen, but Read's case continues to grab headlines daily both from local and national media outlets. The 'It may be that the public thirst for information on this case has kind of been satiated,' Cassidy said. 'They've seen it, they've done it, they've got the T-shirt. It might be that people don't stand outside the courtroom or stand in line to get in. ... It's possible, and there are so many things going on in our world right now that are commanding our attention.' A Karen Read supporter wore a T-shirt featuring Read and her attorneys Alan Jackson (left) and David Yannetti on June 28. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff Nick Stoico can be reached at
Boston Globe
26-03-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Israel's new spending plan is a win for Netanyahu
Advertisement Now, Netanyahu has much greater leeway to set his government's priorities, both at home and in the Gaza Strip, because it will be harder for any single disgruntled party in his coalition to threaten its downfall. 'That could mean doubling down on extreme right-wing populism and the war in Gaza, or it could mean figuring out an exit strategy and attempting a dash to a Saudi normalization deal,' said Michael Koplow, an analyst at Israel Policy Forum, a New York-based research group. 'But whichever path it is will reflect Netanyahu's own calculations rather than what he is being pushed into by his coalition partners.' Netanyahu's partners were likely disinclined to break up the coalition in any case, at least for now, political analysts said. Some of his right-wing allies had seen their parties sink in the polls, while others — like the ultra-Orthodox — could struggle to find an alternative path to power despite disagreements with Netanyahu, they said. On Wednesday, Netanyahu's coalition was already preparing its next move: Its lawmakers were set to pass a new law that would give the government greater say in the selection of Supreme Court justices. The contentious proposal has attracted fierce opposition because it is seen as part of a wider push by Netanyahu's government to exert more control over the judiciary and other state watchdogs. The budget vote drew sharp protests from demonstrators, who blocked roads to the parliament, holding signs to demand that Netanyahu move more quickly in negotiations to free several dozen hostages who have been held in Gaza for nearly 18 months. Talks to resume a cease-fire with Hamas appear stalled, and a recent government decision to return to war is raising fears among Israelis for the hostages who have not been released. Advertisement Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel's parliamentary opposition, claimed the budget also included cuts to essential services like health care, welfare, and education while diverting funds to Netanyahu's right-wing coalition partners. 'The budget harms every Israeli citizen, especially working people,' Lapid said. 'Just to keep the coalition going for a few more months, it sells out the citizens of Israel.' The budget capped program spending at $168.8 billion (the rest goes to capital and debt expenses), allocating more money — $29.9 billion — to Israel's Defense Ministry than any other government agency. Nearly 18 percent of the newly approved budget for 2025 will fund its military and defense operations. A summary of the budget said that allocation reflected the continuing need for significant military spending since October 2023, when the Hamas-led assault that killed about 1,200 Israelis touched off the ongoing war in Gaza. Spending increased last year, the budget said, as Israel opened new fronts in Lebanon and Syria and stepped up airstrikes against Iran and Yemen. 'This is a war budget, and with God's help it will also be the victory budget,' Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, an ally of Netanyahu, said in a statement after the budget was approved Tuesday. The United States, which is part of deadlocked peace negotiations to free the Israeli hostages and end the war in Gaza, has eased some of Israel's wartime expenses by supplying billions of dollars in weapons. Advertisement Already this year, the Trump administration has bypassed Congress to allow the sales of more than $12 billion in arms to Israel over the coming decade — including $2 billion in bombs such as the 2,000-pound munition that human rights officials and advocates said had indiscriminately killed civilians in Gaza. This article originally appeared in
Boston Globe
10-02-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
The CFPB is Elizabeth Warren's creation. Now she's trying to fight off its biggest threat yet.
Advertisement Now, after helping stave off multiple attempts over the years by Republicans, bankers and business groups to kill it, Warren is trying to fight off the biggest threat yet to the CFPB's existence. 'It's personal to me when people get cheated. It's personal to me when someone ends up paying tens of thousands of dollars more on a mortgage because tricks built into the system meant they couldn't compare prices,' Warren told the Globe Monday, getting emotional as she ticked off other types of financial scams. 'The fact that it has been a pretty damn effective cop on the beat to shut down much of that activity matters,' she continued before she headed to a late-afternoon protest rally outside the agency's now-shuttered Washington headquarters. 'It matters to me. And it should matter to every American who just wants a chance to build a little economic security and not get cheated in the meantime.' The CFPB says it has Advertisement 'Are you ready to fight for the little agency that fights for us?' Warren roared into a handheld microphone to about 300 CFPB employees and their supporters at the end of a fiery 10-minute speech at the rally. 'Are you ready to fight the billionaires who are trying to take over this country? Are you ready to say no to Elon Musk?' she continued, each question answered with shouts of 'Yes!' 'We will fight it out in Congress. We will fight it out in the courts. We will fight it out across this country. And I promise you, we will win!' Trump appointed 'The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) — the brainchild of Sen. Elizabeth Warren — has long functioned as another woke, weaponized arm of the bureaucracy that leverages its power against certain industries and individuals disfavored by so-called 'elites,' ' the White House said in a statement Monday. Republicans have opposed the CFPB from the start, joined by many banking and business groups who have complained it's too heavy-handed and not accountable to Congress because it is funded by the Federal Reserve outside the normal appropriations process. Republicans have claimed the agency's funding set-up is unconstitutional, but Advertisement The agency was targeted for elimination in . 'A great day for America,' declared Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno, a strong Trump supporter. 'The agency should never have been created. It was wreaking havoc all over the country.' But like other agencies targeted by Musk's new Department of Government Efficiency, the CFPB was created by statute and Congress would have to pass a law officially killing it. And trying to shut down the CFPB is a risk for If enacted by Congress, the task of policing compliance would fall to the CFPB. Senators Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, and Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, Advertisement 'We note that parts of the MAGA coalition backed the war on junk fees,' Jaret Seiberg, a Washington financial policy analyst at investment bank TD Cowen, wrote in a report to its clients. 'It is why we still believe this will end up as an effort to curb the agency rather than end it regardless of Vought's current plan for the CFPB.' Vought's actions belie all of Trump's talk about standing up for the little guy, Warren said. 'Donald Trump's attack on the CFPB shows just how hollow his promises were during the campaign,' she told the Globe. 'Trump campaigned on lowering costs for the CFPB costs families, sometimes as much as thousands and thousands of dollars.' Warren noted that opponents of the agency started targeting it when it was still being drafted in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. ' It's no surprise that those big banks are still out there hammering to get rid of the agency so they can run their business without any oversight,' she told the Globe. But since the agency has opened, Warren said, another reason has emerged: its success in responding to nearly 7 million consumer complaints and returning money to people. 'The agency has demonstrated every single day of its existence that it is possible to put a cop on the beat to level the playing field and give consumers better choices to make their own decisions without getting tricked and trapped, and that businesses can compete straight up and make a nice profit,' Warren said, sounding some of the same themes she did in advocating for the CFPB's creation years ago. 'That little agency is a ray of optimism in a world that constantly attacks the functioning of government.' Advertisement Kendall Wright of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Jim Puzzanghera can be reached at
