23-04-2025
Who is Judge Beverly Cannone? What to know about judge in Karen Read trial
Who is Judge Beverly Cannone? What to know about judge in Karen Read trial
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John O'Keefe's family files wrongful death lawsuit against Karen Read
A wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Boston police officer John O'Keefe accuses Karen Read of knowingly hitting O'Keefe with her SUV and leaving him to die.
Scripps News
The South Shore is back in the national spotlight as Karen Read's second trial begins this week.
Read is accused of killing her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, with her SUV outside a Canton home in 2022.
The case sparked a media frenzy during Read's first trial last year, which ended in a hung jury.
At the center of the trial is Superior Court Judge Beverly J. Cannone, who also presided over last year's proceedings.
A longtime judge for Massachusetts' Superior Court, Cannone is a South Shore native who was once a public defender. Here's what to know about her.
Judge Beverly Cannone grew up and still lives on the South Shore
Cannone grew up in Quincy and lives in Norwell.
According to a 2009 Patriot Ledger article, Cannone's father, the late John Prescott, was a Norfolk County prosecutor in the early 1970s and later a public defender who ran the Boston office of the Massachusetts Defenders Committee.
She is one of six children and her mother, the late Gertrude Prescott, worked in the Quincy Public School system, according to an obituary published in The Patriot Ledger.
Where did Judge Beverly Cannone go to college?
A graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Cannone earned a bachelor's degree from the school in 1982, according to her profile on Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.
She went on to earn a juris doctorate degree from the New England School of Law in 1985.
After graduating from law school, Cannone was a public defender for 25 years in Middlesex, Plymouth and Norfolk counties.
Gov. Deval Patrick nominated Beverly Cannone to District and Superior Court
After 25 years as a criminal defense lawyer, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick nominated Cannone to Quincy District Court in 2009.
Five years later in 2014, Patrick nominated Cannone to Superior Court.
Cannone has presided over some of the South Shore's most high-profile cases, including the trial of Emanuel Lopes, who was convicted of killing Weymouth police officer Michael Chesna.
Read's defense team asked Cannone to recuse herself
Back in 2023, Read's defense team asked Cannone to recuse herself from the case, citing concerns about her "ability to maintain fairness." She denied the request.
Online speculation circulated at the time that Cannone may have had personal connections to some of the witnesses, but she said the claims were untrue.
Read's lawyer Alan Jackson also alleged at the time that Cannone routinely failed to act on defense motions in a timely manner.
Melina Khan is a trending reporter for the USA TODAY Network - New England, which serves more than a dozen affiliated publications across New England. She can be reached at MKhan@
