A new Karen Read trial date could be selected tomorrow and under state law, that date must be before July 1, 2025, exactly one year after the mistrial was declared.
Prosecutors quickly made clear that they intend to retry Read, who is accused of striking her boyfriend, former Boston police officer John O’Keefe, with her SUV and leaving him to die in the snow.
Both sides will be in court tomorrow to consider next steps. Plenty of questions remain unanswered. A federal investigation of how law enforcement handled O'Keefe's death continues after the lead investigator, state police trooper Michael Proctor, was suspended without pay two weeks ago.
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Read's defense claims five jurors have come forward and confirmed that the jury found her not guilty on two of the three charges, unable to agree on manslaughter.
Last week, Judge Beverly Cannone extended her impoundment order on their identities indefinitely due to safety concerns. Read's team is saying that the judge should hold a “post-verdict inquiry” to confirm that the jurors unanimously found her not-guilty on the charges of second degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.
“I’ve seen lawyers ask that question before and I’ve seen jurors come back with partial verdicts and those partial verdicts can be recorded and then sealed at the end of the case.” says Chris Dearborn, Suffolk University law school professor.
Prosecutors are asking the court to deny that request. If the judge does agree to hold such a hearing, legal experts say there's a real chance prosecutors could be barred from retrying Karen Read for murder.
